The Jupiter Trials
by ArtemisFrimm
Summary: Jason Grace has been longing for a quest for as long as he can remember. But when one finally comes his way, he realizes he may be in a bit over his head. Follow Jason and Reyna on their first quest in the years leading up to the war with the Titans.
1. Chapter 1

**So, in the 7+ years that I've been gone from fanfiction, I have graduated from high school, graduated from _college,_ and moved to another country. So, that's a bit weird to think about. But, since getting a real grown-up person job, I've had a lot less stress and a lot more free time, which means I have been writing like you wouldn't believe. In the two months since moving abroad I have filled 4.5 notebooks with story plots, characters, and ideas, so I figured maybe I should start typing some of them up. I've been reading the Heroes of Olympus books, because I never got the chance to read them in high school, and I only finished the _Son of Neptune_ , but Reyna is already my favorite character. So, I decided to write a story about her budding friendship with Jason. I've been doing a lot of research for these characters, but like I said, I haven't finished the series yet, so if you notice any inconsistencies please let me know. I hope you enjoy.**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **I.**

Jason never dreamed. This was fairly unusual for demigods. Most demigods dreamt about upcoming quests, or about monsters, or about traumas from their past. But Jason never dreamed. Every night for as long as he could remember, he would go to sleep at night and wake up the next morning with absolutely no recollection of any sort of dream. He didn't even have the normal, boring mortal dreams like dreams of flying or dreams about being caught in public in his underwear. It irked him above all else.

His friends in the Fifth Cohort would often talk about their dreams before they went on amazing quests, and his peers would talk about visions of their godly parents or patrons. But he never had a dream, and he never had a quest. He had been at camp longer than almost anyone, but he had still never been chosen for a quest. He blamed it on his lack of dreams. If he would just have a dream, maybe then he would have a quest.

So, on the evening of June 30th, when Jason had his first dream, he was ecstatic.

He dreamt he was in Rome. At first, he thought it was in New Rome, the architecture, the atmosphere, it all felt like New Rome, but he realized this place was more ancient; more powerful. He stood outside of a temple perched on top of a hill that overlooked the city below. The sun was setting, and Roman citizens walked about the streets, many returning to their homes for the night.

An inscription was carved into the marble detailing above the entrance: _Templum Iovis—_ Temple of Jupiter. Jason's heart raced. He wondered if his father would actually be speaking to him. He'd never heard anything from his father. Even when he was brought to camp, his father never claimed him. Lupa had simply brought him to camp and declared him the son of Jupiter.

He walked into the dark temple. A larger-than-life (he assumed) statue of Jupiter sat on a massive marble throne that rose to the ceiling. Jupiter's stone eyes stared coldly ahead, and Jason wondered briefly if he was supposed to present an offering or say some magic words.

"No magic words required." A voice spoke from behind the statue, causing Jason to jump. A tall woman in dark robes emerged from behind Jupiter's throne, and Jason had an instinctive feeling that he should kneel.

The woman smiled, but her smile didn't meet her eyes. "I'm glad to see you haven't inherited your father's manners." The woman said, "You may stand, hero."

Jason rose unsteadily to his feet and tried to recognize the woman in front of him. "You're Juno." He said, "Aren't you?"

"I am." She said evenly.

Jason shifted uncomfortable, "Look, um, I don't mean it in a bad way, but why are you here? You're not here to kill me, right?"

Juno laughed not unkindly, "No, Jason. I am not here to kill you. I am here to give you this."

She tossed Jason a gold coin. He caught the coin easily. On one side was an eagle, the symbol of Jupiter and the word IVLIVS, on the other side was a lightning bolt. "Uh, thanks?" Jason said, unsure what he was supposed to do with a coin.

"Flip it in the air and catch it." Juno instructed.

Jason did as he was told, but as the coin flipped in the air, it turned into a sword made of Imperial Gold. Jason caught the sword easily, amazed at how balanced it felt, almost as if it had been made specially for him. He tossed the sword into the air, and it returned to the coin. "That's incredible!"

"It is a special weapon. A birthday present from your father. If the coin is flipped on heads, it will become a sword, tails it will become a lance." Juno explained.

"Juno, I can't thank you enough." Jason said, "But if this is a dream, how can I use it?" he asked, still marveling at the coin.

Juno stared at him evenly, "Let's find out. Wake, hero."

Jason instantly woke up. Sunlight streamed through the windows of the Fifth Cohort barracks. He reached into the pocket of his pajama pants and pulled out the coin from his dream. He grinned, and flipped the coin, watching as it transformed into a lance.

"Whoa." Dakota stared at him blearily from his bunk. A serious cowlick made his hair stand up in the back of his head, and his mouth was still stained from his Kool-Aid from the night before. "Where'd you get that?" he asked.

Jason told him about his surprise visit from Juno as the boys got dressed and headed to the canteen for breakfast.

"That's crazy, man." Dakota said. "Maybe you'll finally get your first quest after all."

"That would be probably my best birthday present ever." Jason grinned.

"Definitely better than the surprise party Gwen and I had planned for you." Dakota said, already on his second glass of Kool-Aid.

Jason's grin grew wider, "Surprise?"

"Damn it, Dakota you dummy. Did you just spoil the secret?" Gwen asked, joining them at the table.

"Relax, I didn't tell him about the party." Dakota said. Gwen stared at him in exasperation as realization dawned in Dakota's eyes. "Uh, it's not a party for you." Dakota said, trying to backpedal, "It's for uh… another Jason."

Gwen smacked her forehead and groaned, "Dakota we were so close." But Jason just laughed. His friends remembered his birthday, and they even planned a surprise party for him. As he went about his day, he thought that nothing could ruin his mood. In his combat class, he easily beat his classmates, his new sword making combat even easier for him. Not even Octavian could bother Jason today.

After lunch he sat with the rest of the Fifth Cohort at the campsite outside of the barracks. Charlie Taylor, the Fifth's senior officer had bought Jason a cake, and even the praetors had stopped by to wish him a happy birthday. They had just finished singing happy birthday, when a messenger ran to the campground out of breath. "Praetors!" she shouted.

"Maggie, what's wrong?" Praetor Lee asked the girl as she approached.

"There… there's a new… a new demigod!" she huffed. The praetors quickly ran off to the Little Tiber to meet the new recruit. Jason looked at his friends, who shrugged and followed the crowd to catch a glimpse at the new camper.

At the edge of the river was a girl, who couldn't have been older than twelve, fending off three humanoid monsters with razor-sharp tusks protruding from their heads. She was tall and slender with light brown skin and long black hair pulled into a messy braid down her back. She looked exhausted. She had a few cuts on her arms and legs from where the monsters had apparently gotten her with her tusks, and strands of her black hair had come loose from her braid.

"Shouldn't someone help her?" Jason asked. But the campers seemed to be in awe. The girl fought with the fierceness of a wild animal, as she slashed through two of the monsters with an iron sword. But while the girl was distracted, the third monster charged at her, knocking her under the water.

The praetors, Lee and Aurelia broke out of their stupor and rushed into the water to help the girl. Miraculously, the girl had managed to slay the third monster without more than a shallow cut on her cheek.

The praetors helped the girl out of the water, and somebody ran over with a towel to give her. She was young, but her dark eyes held had a fierce gaze, like she dared anyone try to challenge her. Despite being drenched and almost drowned by a monster, she held herself very regally, like she was very aware of her power.

"Who are you?" Lee asked, once they reached the river bank.

"My name is Reyna. I was trained by the wolf Lupa. She sent me here." The girl said. She had the slightest hint of an accent that Jason couldn't place.

"Are you a demigod then?" Aurelia asked.

"Yes." Reyna answered.

"And who is your godly parent?"

At that, Reyna's strong façade flickered for just a second, but she regained her composure so quickly, it hardly showed. "I don't know." She said.

Aurelia and Lee exchanged looks and seemed to reach some sort of nonverbal agreement. "Very well, Reyna. Come with us. We have a few more questions to ask you." Lee said, before turning his attention back to the crowd, "Everyone return to your posts."

"Wow." Dakota said, "That was pretty dope."

Jason didn't know why, but he felt a twinge of annoyance, "It wasn't that impressive."

Gwen gave him an incredulous look, "She took on three fully grown Aeternae by herself and got away with just a scratch." She said, "I'd say that's pretty impressive for a demigod that young."

Jason frowned, "I could've taken them." He said, unsure why he was so bothered by the new demigod.

"Yeah, but you've also been at camp since you were in diapers." Dakota pointed out, "Besides, I think she could kick even your ass in combat if she wanted to."

Jason scowled, 'No she wouldn't. She wasn't that good."

Gwen and Dakota shrugged, "Whatever you say Jason." Gwen said with a small smirk, "Come on, let's go cut your birthday cake."

But Jason suddenly didn't feel in a celebrating mood anymore.

That night at assembly, the praetors called for attention. The new girl, Reyna stood behind them, looking completely indifferent to all of the eyes on her. She had cleaned up after her impromptu swim in the Tiber. Her black hair was neatly braided down her back, and the cut on her cheek had mostly faded. Instead of her old tee-shirt and shorts, she wore a purple Camp Jupiter shirt and dark jeans.

"Romans, as you already know, we have a new recruit. Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano wishes to join the legion. A flash of annoyance crossed Reyna's face as Lee said her full name, but she quickly collected herself.

"That's a mouthful to say." Dakota whispered loudly. Gwen elbowed him in the ribs.

"What do the auguries say?" Aurelia asked Octavian.

"I have read the entrails." Octavian said dramatically, "The auguries are favorable. She may join the legion." He gave Reyna a cheeky grin, and Reyna narrowed her eyes ever so slightly.

The campers shouted, "Ave hail." And the senior officers from each cohort stepped forward. Charlie Taylor, from the Fifth Cohort was the most senior officer in the camp, having been at camp even longer than Jason.

"Recruit, do you bring any credentials? Any letters of recommendation?" he asked.

Reyna shook her head, "No."

"I wonder if the First will try to take her anyway." Gwen whispered.

"I doubt Octavian would allow an unclaimed camper into the First." Jason pointed out.

"I don't know, the slimeball seems to be pretty interested in her." Dakota said, nodding toward where Octavian stood. He was definitely watching Reyna closely, and it made Jason briefly feel bad for the new girl. Octavian had only come to camp two years ago, but he had quickly risen to power as auger and centurion of the First Cohort. He was sneaky, and conniving, and Jason had hated him from the moment he arrived at camp.

"I will stand for her." Said Evander Jackson, a centurion from the Third Cohort.

Lee nodded, "Evander Jackson, you stand for the recruit. Does your cohort accept her?"

The members of the cohort banged their shields and spears on the ground.

"My cohort has spoken." Evander said, "We accept the recruit."

Aurelia turned to Reyna, "Congratulations, Reyna. You stand on _probatio_. You will be given a tablet with your name and cohort. In one year's time, or as soon as you complete an act of valor, you will become a full member of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. Serve Rome, obey the rules of the legion, and defend the camp with honor. _Senatus Populusque Romanus_!" The rest of the legion echoed her chant.

Reyna nodded once before going to join Evander and the rest of the Third Cohort.

"Maybe we should have tried to accept her." Dakota said glumly, "We never get cool recruits."

"What are we, chopped liver?" Jason asked.

"Might as well be."

"She hasn't even been claimed by her godly parent yet. She could have some super lame god as her parent." Jason argued.

"With fighting skills like that?" Charlie said, joining them at the table, "doubtful."

Jason scowled. _Why is everyone making such a big deal about her?_

"What's go you so worked up anyway?" Dakota asked.

Gwen smirked, "Is wittle Jason jealous of Reyna?"

Jason almost spit out his drink. "Me? Why would I be jealous of her? I'm the son of Jupiter. What do I have to be jealous about?"

"Maybe the act that she's the first person who could probably kick your ass in combat and she's a girl and probably younger than you?" Dakota grinned, sipping his Kool-Aid.

"First of all, she would not kick my ass." Jason growled, "Second, I don't care if she's a girl or younger than me. I just don't like that everyone's making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be. She's good with a sword. So what? Lots of demigods are."

Gwen and Dakota exchanged looks like they didn't believe him, but they dropped the topic. Jason had a feeling he was really not going to like Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano.


	2. Chapter 2

**Happy Hump Day**

 **-ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **II.**

The next day at combat class, Jason groaned when he saw Reyna there. He hadn't seen her all day because they were in different classes, so he had almost forgotten about her. He didn't know why, but something about her irritated him. Maybe it was because everyone seemed to be kissing the ground she walked on. Or maybe it was because she acted so indifferent to everything. Either way, Jason was really not looking forward to class with her.

"What is she doing here?" He whined. "Isn't she supposed to start in the beginner class?"

"She did." Charlie said, cleaning his sword, "This morning. She almost skewered her classmates, so the praetors allowed us to move her to the advanced class. She's a good fighter. And I figured you two are close in size, so you could spar together. She may actually make you work for once." Charlie smirked, "Now, go introduce yourself to your new partner."

Jason scowled and stomped over to where Reyna was watching some of the older campers practicing their combat skills. She turned to face him when she noticed him approach, but her face didn't betray any emotion.

Jason sighed "Hi, I'm Jason." He said unenthusiastically.

"Reyna." She replied smoothly.

"Yeah, I know." Jason said.

Reyna's black eyes narrowed ever so slightly, giving away the slightest hint of annoyance. "What do you want?" she asked coldly. She was already eyeing him up like she was looking for weaknesses.

"Charlie made me your sparring partner, so get up." Jason said, flipping IVLIVS in his hand and turning it into a sword.

Reyna nodded her head slowly, then almost faster than Jason could react, she jumped to her feet and swung her sword at him.

Jason just barely managed to block her blow, but he quickly recovered and began to return her attack. She had a determined, almost feral grin on her face as their swords clashed. Her fighting style was different from typical Roman fighting, and as he blocked one of her strikes, Jason wondered where she had learned how to fight.

She swung to his left, and Jason prepared to parry, but at the last minute, she swung right, whacking his sword out of his hand with the butt of her sword. Jason blinked in surprise as she aimed her blade near his throat. "Yield." She commanded quietly.

Jason reluctantly raised his hands, "Fine."

Reyna didn't gloat, but the slight smirk on her lips as she lowered her sword was enough to infuriate him. Jason glared daggers at her as members of her cohort congratulated her.

Dakota and Gwen were cracking up, and even Charlie was trying not to smile. "Dude—" Dakota wheezed.

"I don't want to talk about it." Jason grumbled, picking up his sword and storming off to the baths.

Jason was still in a bad mood when dinner rolled around. "Dude just let it go. She beat you once. Who cares? That doesn't mean you're not a good fighter." Dakota said as he chugged his Kool-Aid.

"I just don't get it." Jason said, "Where did she learn how to fight like that? It's definitely not Roman." He complained.

"Oh, you're a hundred percent right." Octavian said as he walked by the Fifth Cohort's table.

Jason frowned, suspicious of the auger. "What are you implying, Octavian?"

Octavian shrugged casually, but Jason could tell he was working on some kind of scheme. "Well of course, when I read people's auguries, I can learn a lot about them." He shrugged again and took a bite out of his apple. He eyed Reyna as she entered the dining pavilion and began walking in their direction.

"For example, I know that you're absolutely correct. Our new recruit most definitely was not trained by Romans. Isn't that right Reyna _Ramírez-Arellano_?"

Reyna paused, and Jason could see an emotion he couldn't place cross her otherwise stoic face. "It's just Reyna." She said, "And I don't know what you're talking about." Her expression was calm, but Jason could hear the warning in her tone. Octavian clearly knew _something_ about Reyna that she didn't want anyone else to know.

Octavian was unfazed, as a malicious smirk formed on his face. He obviously believed he had the upper-hand in whatever psychological battle they were waging. "Really, I would have thought living this close to the ocean would be a tough reminder."

"Well, I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine." Reyna said icily, turning to leave.

Octavian scowled, not ready to end their war. But he quickly smoothed his expression, "I guess you're right. Still, I would imagine all of this would be a painful reminder of your time with the pi—"

Before Octavian could finish, Reyna tackled the skinny boy to the ground. She had her foot on his chest, holding him down, and her fist raised as if she were about to punch him in the face. When she spoke, her voice was deadly calm, and Jason realized in that moment Reyna would probably be a scary enemy to have.

"If you ever try to threaten me with my own past again, I will hit you so hard Apollo will feel it." She said dangerously, "Got it?"

Charlie and Evander noticed the commotion and ran over, grabbing Reyna by each arm and pulling her off of Octavian. "Okay, we need to talk to the praetors." Evander said, leading her out of the dining pavilion.

Charlie helped Octavian to his feet. The auger was fine, other than a bruised ego, but his eyes glistened coldly as he watched Evander lead Reyna out of the room. "My that was a bit aggressive. Maybe I read the auguries wrong with her."

"What was that all about?" Jason asked. He didn't really like Reyna, but he didn't trust Octavian any more than he could throw him. And the boy seemed to know something big about Reyna.

"Well I guess she didn't want me to tell you about how she was kidnapped by pirates." Octavian's eyes widened with feigned surprise as he revealed her secret, "Whoops."

Jason's jaw dropped, and judging by the other campers' expressions, they were just as surprised has he was. "Wait, what?"

Octavian tried to look pained, but Jason knew it was an act. He loved creating drama. "Oh yes. Last year our poor Reyna and her sister were enslaved by Blackbeard and his pirates. I imagine that's where she learned to fight."

"Blackbeard, you mean _the Blackbeard_?" Jason asked incredulously, "You're making that up."

"I assure you, I'm not." Octavian said, "I don't quite understand it either, but the auguries don't lie."

Legion members began whispering amongst themselves, all marveling at Octavian's story.

"Where's her sister now?" Jason asked, "How did they escape?"

Octavian shrugged nonchalantly, but he was clearly thrilled by the excitement over his reveal. "Sadly, I don't know. The only person who would be able to answer that question would be Reyna, but well… you saw." He trailed off, as if to imply Reyna was the unstable one, even if it was Octavian that had baited her in the first place.

* * *

Reyna followed Evander to the praetor's office, wishing she was anywhere else in the world. She wondered if she would be kicked out of camp. She didn't know where she would go if she was. She had run out of places to hide, and this time her sister wouldn't be there to help her.

She knew she shouldn't have let Octavian get the best of her. Lupa had warned her that she needed to control her anger, but Octavian had made her so mad. She had been on edge since she arrived at camp. First, she was chased by the Aeternae all the way from the Wolf House. Then Octavian had tried to make a pass at her after he read her auguries. Then there were the Lares everywhere. She knew that they weren't mania. But the resemblance made her anxious.

She didn't like the camp. She had believed if she sought out Lupa, her mother would help her. But her mother hadn't even claimed her, and instead Hylla had left her. She had always hated living on CC's island, but suddenly she'd give anything to be back there with her sister instead of at this stupid camp.

"You'll have to talk to Lee and Aurelia." Evander said, stopping outside of the praetor's office. She couldn't tell if he was mad or not. "Just tell them what happened. You're new, so maybe they'll cut you a break."

Reyna nodded glumly, and Evander gave her a sympathetic look before leaving her waiting in the chair in front of the office. She didn't know how long she sat there, but after a while, Lee and Aurelia returned.

They motioned for her to follow them into the office.

"You've been at camp for less than 24 hours and you're already picking fights with our Auger. What happened?" Lee asked.

Reyna remained quiet with her head bowed. She didn't want to explain herself to them.

"Did Octavian say something to you?" Aurelia asked gently.

"It's nothing." Reyna said. She didn't want the praetors to fight her battles for her. "I over-reacted. It won't happen again."

The praetors looked at each other as if trying to decide what to make of Reyna's answer. Finally, Aurelia said, "It's always a bit of an adjustment for new campers. We can't let you completely off the hook. You'll do inventory of the storage shed tomorrow morning for the war games. Junius, one of our Lares, will show you how to do it."

Reyna tried to not let her anxiety show. She really didn't want to spend any alone time with any of the Lares, but she didn't want to bring that up. Her fear was a weakness, and Romans don't show weakness.

"Just know that an attack against a Roman is an attack on us all." Lee warned sternly, "We're giving you a warning now, but this sort of incident cannot happen again."

Reyna nodded solemnly and excused herself from the praetors' office. She hadn't been kicked out of camp, but part of her was almost wishing she had been. She had thought she would find a home at camp, but it was clear this wasn't the place. Hylla had been right. _Again._ And now Hylla had found a home without her. Reyna hadn't had a chance to finish dinner, but she wasn't feeling particularly hungry anymore. She didn't want to interact with anyone, she just wanted to go to bed and forget about the day.


	3. Chapter 3

**I've decided I'll update every time I finish a new chapter, or at least every Monday. I'm currently five chapters ahead of what I have posted, so hopefully that will give me a bit of a cushion so there isn't super long waits between chapters. My goal is to have this story finished before the New Year, but we'll see. I have this story planned out all the way through though, so hopefully I can stay motivated long enough to finish quickly. Also, shout out to NEIWIS for being my sole reviewer. You're swell.**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **III.**

The next morning, Reyna woke up early and headed to the storage shed. The sooner she got started, the sooner she would be finished with her punishment. Hopefully she wouldn't have to spend too much time with the Lar.

She waited outside of the storage shed for the Lar to arrive. There was a code on the door that prevented her from getting started early. It was nearly nine, and Reyna was getting anxious and hungry.

"Hello, you must be Reyna." A voice spoke from behind her, making her jump.

She twirled around and found herself face-to-face with a translucent Roman wearing gladiator's armor. She tried to swallow down the anxiety that was suddenly building up inside her. The Lar didn't really resemble her father. This Lar seemed calmer, more fixed. When her father's spirit had been consumed by the mania, it had made him twitchy and violent. The mania had felt malevolent.

"Hi." Reyna said cautiously.

"Don't be afraid, we Lares are mostly harmless." The Lar said, "I'm Junius. I'm going to be advising you how to conduct inventory today." He shook out his hand as if to shake Reyna's, and she wasn't sure if he was joking or if he had simply forgotten her hand would pass right through his.

Registering her shocked expression, he quickly lowered his hand, "Oh drat, I'm so sorry, I always forget about that. You know what they say, old habits die hard… unless you're a Lar. Then you keep those habits forever." He smiled like he had just made a funny joke.

He frowned at Reyna's startled expression. "Anyway, let's get started shall we. Inventory's pretty easy. All you have to do—" but before he finished his thought, he had passed through the locked door into the storage shed.

He must have realized Reyna wasn't behind him, because he popped his head out of the door, with a mildly irritated expression, "Well what are you waiting out there for? Follow me, please."

"The door's locked." Reyna said, feeling a little bit foolish over the interaction.

Junius's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He looked down at the lock. "Huh. Would you look at that." He looked back at her. "Sorry, being a Lar takes some getting used to, I suppose."

"How long have you been a Lar?" Reyna asked, trying to get over her jitters.

Junius thought for a moment, "I'd say maybe 2000 years or so. At any rate, the passcode to get in is 7-6-7-9."

Reyna tried to hide her surprise as she typed in the passcode and followed the Lar into the storage shed. It looked like a regular storage shed, except instead of lawn-mowers or rakes, there were swords, shields, and spears.

"Wow." Reyna said, marveling at the assortment of weapons.

"It's not bad." Junius said, "Unfortunately, it's mostly Stygian Iron instead of Imperial Gold. Most of Camp Jupiter's Imperial Gold weapons were lost in the Sea of Monsters and in Alaska."

Reyna frowned, "Alaska?"

"Long, very tragic story. Don't ask." Junius said disdainfully.

"Nobody's been able to reclaim the weapons?" Reyna asked.

"No. Both places are too dangerous. Alaska is beyond the realm of the gods, and the weapons lost in the Sea of Monsters have been scattered. Nobody knows where they are." Junius explained, "So most of our weapons now are Stygian iron. It's not ideal, but it does the trick in a pinch."

She thought about Jason's golden sword he used during their combat practice, "What about Jason Grace? How did he end up with an Imperial Gold weapon?"

The Lar smiled, "A gift from the gods. Jason's the son of Jupiter. I imagine his father must have given it to him"

Reyna rolled her eyes. No wonder he had been such a sore loser. Junius chatted away as he showed her how to do inventory. It was pretty easy, and though the Lares still made her wary, she wasn't quite as nervous.

"So, Miss Reyna, I must ask, is it correct to assume that we Lares are not the first spirits you've ever seen?" Junius asked after a while, "What sort of spirit did you encounter before coming here?"

Reyna felt her blood go cold as Junius watched her intently. She tried to school her expression. She wouldn't let fear take hold of her. "A mania." She answered.

"Ah." He looked perturbed, "That's quite unfortunate. Did you know the mania?"

Reyna felt numb, as she tried to block out the memories of her life in Puerto Rico. "He was my father."

Junius watched her for a moment, and Reyna had a sudden instinct to bolt. She avoided the Lar's gaze, instead focusing intently on her inventory list. She desperately wished the Lar would drop the conversation.

"I won't pry into your personal business." The Lar said slowly, "But just know that patricide is a serious crime in Rome. I won't ask questions, but it'd serve you well to not discuss that sort of matter within camp boundaries."

"He tried to kill my sister." Reyna said, hating the way her voice shook.

"I'm not saying it wasn't justified." Junius said sadly, "I'm just saying it would be best to not discuss it while you're here."

Reyna nodded solemnly, feeling worse than she had the night before. Junius smiled at her sympathetically, "I think you've done enough for today. Go get some rest before the War Games tonight."

Reyna didn't really want to see anyone, but she figured she should probably eat something, so she took a deep breath and prepared to face her fellow campers.

As she entered the mess hall, she could feel her peers staring at her. She held her head high and ignored them. If they wanted to stare she wouldn't let it bother her. She grabbed her food and made her way over to her cohort's table. Her table mates instantly went quiet.

"Am I interrupting something?" Reyna asked icily as she spread jam onto her toast.

The camper sitting next to her was a girl around Reyna's age. The girl eyed Reyna's butter knife nervously, like she was afraid Reyna was going to start stabbing her with it. The boy sitting next to the camper elbowed the girl in the ribs like he wanted her to say something.

The girl glared at him before turning back to Reyna, "We were just wondering, um…" she cleared her throat, "We were wondering if you were really Blackbeard's slave?"

Reyna felt a flash of rage rush through her, but she quickly schooled her features, remembering what the praetors had told her yesterday. She continued to spread her jam on her toast, "I thought I made it pretty clear yesterday that I don't want to talk about that." She said, staring the girl hard in the eyes. The girl squeaked in alarm, her cheeks turning bright red.

"So, it is true then? Blackbeard's really out there? An actual pirate? That's so cool!" the boy camper said, but instantly quieted as Reyna shot him a dirty look.

The table fell into an awkward silence, and finally Reyna had enough of it. She got up to leave. She wasn't particularly hungry anymore anyway.

* * *

As evening drew closer, Jason was anxious for the War Games. This week they were going to have gladiator fights. The gladiator fights were always Jason's favorite. Each cohort would choose one junior camper between the ages of 12 and 15 and one senior camper over 15 to represent their cohort. The ten fighters would enter the makeshift arena on the Field of Mars and they would fight. If a camper was disarmed or knocked out, they would be disqualified. The last camper standing would win for their cohort.

During the last gladiator fight, Jason had come so close to winning. He had only been defeated by the senior fighter from the First Cohort. Even though he didn't win for his cohort, it had been a great morale booster. The Fifth Cohort was notoriously unlucky, and almost never won any of the War Games. Jason was determined to win this time.

He joined his friends at their dinner table as they waited for roll call and the nomination of gladiators. He spied Reyna sitting at the edge of the Third Cohort's table. He realized he hadn't seen her all day. He wondered what sort of punishment the praetors had given her over the Octavian situation. She looked agitated, like she'd rather be anywhere besides at her cohort's table. Evander sat near her trying to make conversation, but he seemed to be the only one. The other members of her cohort seemed to ignore her or just stare at her.

Octavian's story had spread around the camp like wildfire. Jason couldn't go very far without hearing people spreading rumors, real and fake, about the new recruit. He didn't know how much Reyna cared or paid attention to the rumors, but he couldn't help but feel partially guilty over it.

Gwen sat down next to him and Dakota followed shortly after. "You excited about the War Games?" Gwen asked.

Jason grinned, his thoughts about Reyna quickly evaporating, "I'm so excited. I'm going to win for us this time."

"I wouldn't bet money on it." Octavian said as he walked past their table. "When was the last time the Fifth Cohort won anything?"

Jason scowled, "You're one to talk. You wouldn't last five minutes in that arena."

"Regardless," Octavian said irritably, "The First is going to knock you out so fast you won't know what hit you. Have fun."

Jason rolled his eyes and turned back to his friends. "Don't worry about him, Jason." Gwen said, "You said it yourself, his skinny ass wouldn't last more than five minutes in the arena."

After roll call, the praetors called for attention again. "Romans! Tonight, at the War Games, we will host the gladiator fights. Each cohort must nominate two warriors to fight for their cohort. We will begin with the First Cohort. Who do you choose to represent your team?"

Octavian stood for his table and read out the nominations. Simon Long, who had beaten Jason during the last gladiator fight, was nominated as the senior gladiator. Molly McPheaters was nominated as the junior gladiator. He recognized Molly from some of his classes. She was good with a sword, but he had beaten her in combat training numerous times. She didn't pose as much of a threat. Once the gladiators were nominated, they moved on to the Second Cohort.

He went through each nomination, noting their weaknesses and strengths; mentally calculating when and how he should approach each fighter. He knew Second's senior gladiator would try to take on Simon, and Simon would take him out. That eliminated one senior fighter…

It was the Third's time to nominate. Nola Golden, the other centurion for the Third Cohort stood, "I nominate Evander Jackson as senior gladiator."

"Does your cohort approve?" Lee asked.

The Third cohort banged their swords and lances in support. Nola smiled "My cohort approves. Evander, do you accept this role?"

"I accept." Evander said.

"It is settled. Who does the Third nominate for their junior gladiator?" Aurelia asked the centurions.

Evander whispered something to Nola, and she shrugged and motioned for him to speak. "I nominate Reyna Ramírez-Arellano."

The silence in the mess hall was suddenly interrupted as campers whispered amongst themselves. Reyna didn't look surprised by the nomination, but she didn't look thrilled about it.

Aurelia and Lee exchanged glances and Lee shrugged, "Okay, does your cohort approve the nomination?"

The cohort was silent for a moment before they reluctantly started banging their shields and lances far less enthusiastically than they had with Evander. They clearly weren't happy about Evander's nomination, but they respected Evander enough to back his decision.

"My cohort approves." Evander said. If he regretted his nomination, he did a good job of not letting it show, "Reyna, do you accept this role?"

"I accept."

"It is settled then. Fourth Cohort, who do you nominate for your senior gladiator?" Lee asked.

Jason wasn't listening anymore. He was watching the Third Cohort. Evander and Nola were obviously discussing battle strategies with Reyna, but he could see that she wasn't paying attention. Her attention kept flitting over to the other members of her cohort, where some of the campers glared at her. He could see Austin Andrews sending her especially dirty looks. Austin had been chosen for the last gladiator battle as the Third's junior gladiator and had been eliminated fairly quickly. But he could imagine the boy was not thrilled about losing his role as gladiator to the probatio.

"Fifth Cohort, who do you nominate for your senior gladiator?" Aurelia asked, breaking Jason's train of thought.

Lydia Ottoman, one of the centurions from the Fifth stood, "I nominate Charlie Taylor as senior gladiator."

"We approve!" Dakota said cheekily, banging his shield on the ground as he raised his Kool-Aid glass.

Aurelia shot him a dirty look, "Normally, you're supposed to wait for us to ask."

Dakota had enough sense to act embarrassed. "Right, sorry praetor."

Aurelia continued, "Does your cohort approve your nomination?"

They banged their shields and lances on the ground in approval. "My cohort approves, and I accept." Charlie said.

"Then it's settled, who do you nominate as your junior gladiator?" Lee asked.

"I nominate Jason Grace." Charlie said, winking at Jason.

"Does your cohort approve your nomination?"

His cohort banged their weapons again, and Jason grinned. "My cohort approves, Jason do you accept this role?" Charlie asked.

"I accept."

Aurelia smiled, "The gladiators have been selected. In one hour, we will gather at the Field of Mars and we will begin the battle. Enjoy your dinner."

Food instantly appeared in front of them, and Jason began shoveling food in his mouth. He loved the food at Camp Jupiter. Each meal was always something he wanted to eat. He was never disappointed.

"So, Jason. We need to come up with a game plan." Charlie said, "They'll know not to underestimate you this time, so the First and Second are going to try to take you out early."

"Hey, we've got a proposition for you."

They turned to see Evander and Reyna standing next to their table.

"What sort of proposition?" Charlie asked.

"We already talked to the Fourth about it, what if we teamed up to take out the First and Second." Evander suggested, "You said it yourself, they're going to go for Jason first. Everyone would. But if we can take out Simon quickly, we can ensure that at least the First won't win."

"And what happens to our alliance when Simon's out?" Jason asked skeptically.

"Then everyone's on their own. We let the best cohort win." Evander said.

Jason looked to Charlie to see what he thought. He didn't know how much he trusted Evander and Reyna. He didn't know who Reyna's godly parent was, but he knew Evander was a son of Bellona. He always had a battle plan, and about 100 backup plans. Still, it would be easier to win if they could take out Simon early.

Charlie shrugged at Jason and turned back to Evander, "Sure, we're in."

Evander grinned, "Excellent. I'll let the Fourth know. Enjoy your meal. We'll see you in the arena shortly."

Once they were out of earshot, Jason turned to Charlie, "I don't trust them."

Charlie grinned, "Good. I don't either. But Evander has a point, if we don't team up with them, every gladiator will try to take you out. If we can get Simon out first, it gives us a clearer path to victory. Just stay on your toes and be ready for them to turn at any moment."

Before dinner ended, the gladiators headed down to storage to prepare their weapons and armor. Evander was showing Reyna how to adjust her armor, so it wasn't so bulky. As Evander walked away to take care of his own armor, Jason walked over to Reyna.

"Scared?" he asked her.

She stared him down, unintimidated by him. Jason hated that she was taller than him. "I'm not scared of anything."

Jason shrugged, "I guess after living with Blackbeard, nothing could scare you."

That seemed to rattle her slightly, but her expression quickly turned into one of rage, "Where did you learn that? Was it Octavian?"

Jason suddenly felt a bit guilty for bringing it up to try to mess with her. "Yeah. He told us after you left."

Reyna tried to look nonchalant, but Jason could see the slight pink tinge on her cheeks, though he couldn't tell if it was from anger or embarrassment, "What else did he tell you?"

Jason shrugged, "Nothing else. He just told us that you and your sister were kidnapped by Blackbeard's pirates."

"Gladiators, please get ready to enter the arena." Lee's voice boomed over a loudspeaker.

Jason cleared his throat awkwardly, "Well, good luck."

She looked at him, and this time she didn't try to hide her emotions. Her eyes blazed with fury. "I hope you lose." She said before storming off.

Jason could hear the cheers from the campers before he entered the arena. As he walked through the entrance to the arena, he could see their faces; hundreds of Romans cheering and chanting. Each one excited to see their warriors compete.

Jason looked to his right and saw Charlie emerge from the arch next to him. The warriors emerged in a circle around the arena. "Let's remember the rules, no killing, maiming, or going for the head. If you are disarmed, you are disqualified. If you are knocked unconscious, you are disqualified. Gladiators are you ready?" came Lee's voice over the crowds. Jason and the other gladiators shouted in agreement, and the crowd cheered louder.

"Romans are you ready?" Lee shouted again.

The stadium went wild with cheers and screams. Jason could just barely spy Lee in the praetor's box. "Begin!"

The first five minutes were always the most chaotic, as Jason and the other campers ran at each other, swinging their swords madly.

He swung at Molly, dodged the boy from the Second, blocked Simon's blow. Quickly a third of the gladiators were disqualified as they were disarmed. The Fourth lost its junior fighter, Molly was eliminated from the First, and surprisingly the Second's senior gladiator was eliminated.

He saw Charlie fighting Simon, and quickly went to help him, when the junior gladiator from the Second Cohort swung his sword at Jason, almost decapitating him. "Whoops!" the boy from the Second grinned.

Jason scowled, and he raised his sword to strike at the boy, when another fighter beat him to it. Reyna slashed at the boy aggressively, and it took all of the boy's power to keep from being completely knocked over.

Jason allowed Reyna to have that fight and ran to help Charlie battle Simon. The two were engaged in a fierce fight, but Jason could see that Simon clearly had the upper hand. Charlie was on the defense.

Jason jumped in and swung at Simon. Jason distracted Simon enough to allow Charlie to recover, and the two swung at the Simon, but the boy blocked them without too much difficulty.

Suddenly Evander joined in the fray, and as three fought one, they quickly were able to overpower Simon, but before he was completely overpowered, he managed to disarm Evander, before Charlie knocked Simon's sword out of his hand. But as Simon was disqualified, somebody came up from behind them and launched a surprise attack, and Charlie's sword flew out of his hand, disqualifying him.

Jason turned angrily to see who was left and felt his blood boil when he saw Reyna. She had apparently taken out junior gladiator from the Second and had eliminated the senior gladiator for the Fourth. The crowd was going wild. It was highly unusual for a junior gladiator to be one of the remaining two fighters. To have two junior gladiators was almost unheard of.

Jason raised his sword and a crack of lightning jolted through the sword, leaving him feeling more energized than he had at the beginning of the fight, "I'm not losing to you again." He snarled.

Reyna didn't say anything, but almost quicker than Jason was prepared, she launched her attack. She swung at him viciously, but Jason was prepared for her attacks. He remembered her fighting style from the day before, so he was more prepared for her attacks. They were pretty evenly matched, and for a moment, Jason was excited by the challenge. The stadium was chanting his name.

He heard one of the gladiators call from the side, "Lookout Reyna! Blackbeard's right behind you!" Some of the campers laughed.

It was a low joke, but Reyna was distracted for just a second long enough for Jason to gain the upper hand. He feigned a swing at her feet, and instead kicked out and tripped her, knocking her sword out of her hand. "Yield." Jason said, aiming his sword at her.

The demigods in the crowds laughed and cheered as Reyna raised her hands in surrender. Her eyes gave away no emotion, but Jason could see a faint red tinge on her cheeks. Jason had wanted to beat her since she had arrived at camp. And now he had defeated her in the best possible way, so he couldn't understand why he felt so miserable.

He picked up Reyna's sword off the ground and handed it to her as members of the Fifth Cohort flooded the field. Reyna nodded curtly, her eyes not meeting his, "Thanks."

Before Jason could think of something to say, his friends had lifted him up onto their shoulders and cheering and chanting his name. Reyna was lost in the crowd.


	4. Chapter 4

**New update. Big huge shout out to NEIWIS for consistently reviewing my story. I don't know how to respond to reviews on mobile because I'm like a grandma, but you rock, and I really appreciate you. Reviews give me life. Thanks!**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **IV.**

The Fifth Cohort was ecstatic. They prepared a party at one of the bigger bunkers. They pushed the bunk beds out of the way and prepared games, snacks, and lots of Kool-Aid. Jason hadn't seen them this enthusiastic about anything since Jason had been at camp. It felt great to see them filled with pride again.

"Either way, the First didn't win." Dakota said throwing his arms around Jason's shoulders. "It sucks that Charlie had to get out before Reyna. That would have been so dope. Two winners from the Fifth. No offense, Charlie."

Charlie just laughed good-naturedly, "It doesn't bother me. She caught me by surprise. She's definitely a skilled fighter. You did good Jason."

Jason didn't think anything could squash his mood. The night was still young, and the Fifth was prepared to party until the morning. So, naturally it didn't last.

One of the messengers ran into the barrack, his cheeks red from exertion.

"Hey! Donny! Join the party!" Dakota grinned at the boy from the Fourth.

"No time!" Donny panted, "The praetors are calling for an emergency senate meeting. All campers must attend!"

Jason frowned, "What's the meeting about?"

The messenger grinned excitedly, "The Augers had a premonition. There's going to be a quest!"

Jason's heart soared as he ran with his fellow campers to the senate meeting. Maybe he'd finally get to go on his first quest. Maybe that was why Juno had visited him and given him his sword. Maybe she knew he was about to go on a quest.

The senators were already filing into their seats when Jason entered the large auditorium. He was about to follow Gwen and Dakota to the back of the hall, when Octavian stopped him. "Jason, the praetors have asked me to instruct you to sit in the front."

Jason frowned, "Why?"

Octavian scowled, "Are you questioning an order from our praetors?"

"No, sir." Jason said, giving Octavian a phony salute. Octavian's scowl deepened. Whatever the praetors wanted with him, it clearly irritated the daylights out of Octavian, which frankly was fine with Jason.

Once everyone was seated, the praetors held up a hand to silence the audience. "Romans, as you have probably already heard, the auguries have revealed that we will have a quest." Aurelia announced. "Octavian, if you could read us what the auguries have said."

Octavian still looked irritated, but he cleared his throat and began to read dramatically, "The son of lightning and a child of war will reclaim that, which is right. But beware that which is left. Darkness shall fall as the light wakes. The search begins in the garden of the gods."

The auditorium was silent as the Romans tried working out the riddle. "What does it mean?" someone shouted impatiently.

"It's hard to say." Octavian sighed, "the auguries work in mysterious ways."

"The son of lightning part seems pretty obvious." Charlie said slowly, looking at Jason.

"Yes, that much we agreed on." Lee said. "Jason, it looks like this is your first quest. Do you agree to it?"

Jason nodded solemnly, "I do."

He thought he would be more excited for his first quest, but all he could feel was dread. The quest was so vague. How was he supposed to know where to go or what to do?

"The child of war is clearly a child of Mars!" a camper shouted from the back, "I'll volunteer to go!"

"You forget that Bellona is also the goddess of war." A senator pointed out, "It could be one of her children as well."

"Mars is the patron of all Romans!" Another shouted, "It could be anyone of us that is supposed to go!"

The campers and Lares started arguing amongst themselves as Lee and Aurelia tried regaining control over the senate.

"Quiet!" Aurelia shouted.

But suddenly, a camper gasped and pointed to the back of the auditorium where Reyna was sitting. Hovering a few inches above her head glowed a sword and a torch; the symbol of Bellona.

Reyna normally looked so unfazed, but as everyone stared at her, she looked like she'd prefer to melt into the chair and disappear.

"A child of war." Charlie murmured. Immediately the senate hall erupted into protests and arguments.

Lee silenced the auditorium again. "Reyna, please come forward and take a seat next to Jason." Jason wanted to die. Why? Out of anybody at the camp, why did it have to be her? She did a good job hiding her embarrassment as she moved to the front, but as she sat down, Jason could see the slight flush on her cheeks again.

"Praetors, if I may, Reyna has only arrived at camp two days ago. It's clear she is already struggling to adjust." He gave her a pointed look, and Jason couldn't understand how she was able to stay so calm. He was getting irritated for her.

Octavian continued, "It would be unwise of us to potentially jeopardize this quest based on an ill-timed claiming."

"This can't be a coincidence!" Evander argued, "Bellona is more than simply a goddess of warfare. She's also the goddess of strategies. She wouldn't have claimed her now of all times for no reason."

"You must admit Octavian, it's too much of a coincidence." Aurelia said, "It must be a sign."

"She is right." Junius, the Lar spoke up from the back, "This is no coincidence. Our young probatio was chosen by Bellona for this quest. We must accept her decision."

"In that case, are there any objections to Reyna being assigned second member to this quest?" Aurelia asked. There were some grumbles from the campers, but no one objected outright. Jason couldn't help the disappointment he felt.

"Very well." Octavian grumbled, "But that brings about a new problem. Who will lead this quest? Reyna is probatio, and Jason is not a centurion. Our laws decree a centurion must be the one to lead a quest."

Charlie stood forward, "I guess this is a good a time as any to announce my retirement then."

Jason's jaw went slack, "What? What do you mean retirement?"

Charlie grinned sheepishly, "I just got my acceptance to San Francisco State. I'm going to college in the fall." He looked at Lee and Aurelia, "Praetors, if you'll accept, I would like to nominate Jason Grace for centurion of the Fifth Cohort. I believe he's proved himself worthy after the War Games today."

Jason stared at Charlie in shock, he was only just 13. Sure, he had been at camp longer than almost anyone, but was he really qualified to become centurion?

"What does your cohort say?" Aurelia asked.

His cohort members stood for him. Gwen and Dakota gave him a thumbs up, but Jason was still too stunned to say anything.

"Your cohort approves. Jason, do you accept the position of centurion?" Lee asked.

Jason tried to get over his shock. He looked at Charlie who smiled at him encouragingly. "I accept."

Charlie grinned and clapped him on the shoulder, and Jason could see Octavian fuming. Lee and Aurelia held up a hand to silence the auditorium again, "Since that is settled, Jason do you accept your role as leader of this quest?"

Jason nodded, "I do."

"And Reyna, do you accept your position on this quest?"

Reyna nodded solemnly, but Jason was pretty sure she didn't want to go on this quest anymore than he wanted her to.

Aurelia nodded, and Jason could see the pity-look she exchanged with Lee. _Great, even our own praetors know this is an impossible quest._ Jason thought bitterly.

"As for the rest of the quest…" Lee continued.

"It's incredibly unclear." Octavian said unhelpfully.

"The auguries didn't way anything else? Like what they should actually be looking for? Or where exactly they should start?"

"Colorado." Reyna said, as if it were obvious. "Your quest begins in the Garden of the Gods. That's in Colorado, right?"

"Or," Octavian said, "it could be referring to the Garden of the Hesperides, which is just north of here."

"But it says—"

"Prophecies are never that straightforward." Octavian said, "They're never going to just give you the answer. They'll purposely try to throw you off."

"The prophecy says we have to go right—" Reyna started to argue, but Octavian cut her off again.

"It says you must 'reclaim that, which is right,' not to go right. It probably means you have to reclaim some sort of birth right."

"It could be referring to the direction." Reyna said coolly, "You said it yourself, quests are rarely straightforward."

Octavian scowled before turning to the assembly, "The best course of action, I believe, would be to first send our _heroes_ north. If that journey proves fruitless, then have them go to Colorado."

"We'd be wasting time." Reyna insisted, "We're supposed to complete this quest before the light wakes. We don't know when that is, but if we assume it is soon, we have no time to waste!"

"And what a waste of time it would be if we sent you to Colorado, only for you to learn you should have gone north. You'd be backtracking." Octavian argued, "You've only been here two days, so I'll forgive your naivety, but for the sake of this quest, I'll ask the council to hear my point."

Jason was pretty sure if looks could kill, Reyna would have murdered Octavian at least ten times.

"Octavian has a point, but then so does Reyna." Aurelia mused, "Jason, you are the leader of this quest. What do you say?"

Jason froze. He knew he had to work with Reyna on this quest whether he liked it or not... he also disliked Octavian far more than he disliked Reyna… still, Octavian did make a good point. This quest was about to be real _fun._

He blew out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, "As much as I would like the quest to be that straightforward, it feels too easy for us to start in Colorado. I think it's probably better to be safe and go to San Francisco first." He avoided looking at both Reyna and Octavian. But he could feel Reyna's eyes boring holes into his head, and he could see Octavian's smug grin out of the corner of his eye. "We can get an early start, and if going to the Garden of the Hesperides turns out to be nothing, we can still have the whole day to get to Colorado."

Lee nodded, "Then it's decided. We'll arrange a ride for you two to San Francisco tomorrow morning at 08:30. I suggest you both rest and prepare for your journey." He looked at the senate, "Meeting adjourned."

Jason tried to catch up to Reyna after the meeting, but she slipped away as campers came up to congratulate him or wish him luck.

"Wow, first you win the War Games, then you're elected centurion, and then you get your first quest." Dakota grinned, "Being a teenager's really going well for you. Are you excited?"

"It's some quest." Jason grumbled.

Gwen grimaced, "Yeah, it's not exactly ideal."

"Ideal? I have no idea what I'm supposed to be looking for on this quest, and to make matters worse my partner is the pirate queen probatio. This quest is going to be a disaster." Jason complained.

"Thanks for that vote of confidence." Jason jumped, and turned to see Reyna standing behind him with her arms crossed over her chest.

Jason cleared his throat, embarrassed to have been caught talking about her.

"We'll see you later, Jason." Dakota mumbled awkwardly as he and Gwen left him alone with Reyna.

Jason rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to say to her, "So, uh what are your thoughts on this quest?" Jason asked awkwardly, unable to stand the uncomfortable silence. "Any clue what we're supposed to be looking for?"

"Why don't you ask Octavian?" Reyna said coldly, "You seem to like hearing what he has to say."

Jason winced, "Reyna, I—"

"Look," Reyna said brusquely, "I know you don't want me on this quest, but whether you like it or not, we've both been chosen. So, let's just agree to work together for the sake of the quest. Then we can come back, and you can go back to hating me for kicking your ass in combat."

Jason scowled, "If I remember correctly, I beat you today. Not the other way around."

Anger flashed in Reyna's eyes, and for a moment he thought she was going to hit him. But instead, she turned on her heels and stormed out of the auditorium. _Oh yeah._ Jason thought bitterly, _This quest is going to be real fun._


	5. Chapter 5

**So, I finished the Mark of Athena today, and so to commemorate, I decided to post a new chapter. I'm also reading through these stories way too fast, and I love/hate it. It makes me feel like a kid again. But I also don't know what I'm going to read when I'm finished. I'm reading the original series in Russian, but that's not quite the same as reading something in your native language ya know? Oh well. Onto the update. This chapter was actually a stand-alone scene I wrote that kind of inspired me to write a whole fic. Hope you enjoy. As always, reviews give me life. 3**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **V.**

Reyna hated dreams. They were never very pleasant, and often her dreams were nightmares; bad reminders of her past. This time she dreamed she was in her old house in San Juan. It was just the way Hylla and she had left it four years ago. The windows were all boarded up, and the couches had been pushed to block all of the exits except for the door in the kitchen. The house was a fortress, not a home.

As Reyna moved into the living room, she saw a man sitting on the couch by the front door. For a brief second, she feared it was her father. But as the man's face came into view, she realized she didn't recognize the figure, even if he did seem familiar.

He had a crew-cut hair style and his eyes were hidden by a pair of black sunglasses. He wore a bomber jacket, dark jeans, and sand-colored combat boots, that were stained with dark brown spots. _Blood_. Reyna realized. The man sat so relaxed in the fortress he father had made. She felt a sudden wave of anger at the stranger. She couldn't tell why, but she instantly hated him.

"Who are you?" She demanded in Spanish.

The man removed his sunglasses, and Reyna gasped; where his eyes should have been were two balls of fire. "You mean to tell me you don't recognize your own uncle?" The man responded in perfect Spanish. He smirked at her apparent shock, "What are they teaching you kids at camp these days?"

"You're Mars." Reyna said, "Brother of Bellona."

Mars did a little bow, "In the flesh." He said. He eyed her for a second, before adding, "This is the part where you're supposed to kneel."

Yeah, Reyna was definitely sure she hated this guy. Still, she knelt. She knew when to choose her battles.

"Very good. You can stand now." Mars said. He reminded Reyna of the bullies she had dealt with in elementary school.

"Why are you here?" Reyna asked as she stood, trying to keep the anger from her voice.

"Your mother sent me." Mars said nonchalantly. He could probably sense her anger, but the slight smirk on his face made Reyna want to run him through with a spear.

"Why couldn't she come herself?" Reyna asked.

Mars frowned, "Sit down, kid." He said, gesturing to the seat next to him on the couch.

When Reyna had lived in their house, she had only sat in the living room once. Staying there too long meant she risked her father's rage.

"I'd rather stand." She said.

Mars shrugged, "Suit yourself." He said, propping his feet up on the couch, "Anyway, your mom was busy. She doesn't have time to visit all of her kids all the time."

"She's never visited." Reyna said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice, "I don't even know what she looks like."

Mars stuck out his lower lip, mocking her, "Oh boohoo. Mommy doesn't have time for wittle Weyna. You're a big kid now, Reyna. Your mom's the goddess of strategic warfare. She's got more important matters to attend to. Get over yourself."

Reyna's vision went red. She wanted to scream at Mars until her voice was gone, but she was certain he would just continue his taunts. "Fine." She said bitterly, "What does my mother want, then?"

"She sent me to warn you about this quest." Mars said seriously, "I told her she should just let you figure it out for yourself, but she insisted. She wanted me to warn you that you've got to get that anger of yours under control. War and rash decision decisions don't go together. If you can't figure out how to keep a level head, this quest is going to fail, and you're going to lose everything."

Somehow that just made Reyna more furious. "That's what she has to say to me? After everything I've gone through because of her, she tells me not to be angry?"

The fire in Mars's eyes flashed dangerously, "Your mother had nothing to do with the mess you and your sister got yourselves into."

"Yeah? Bellona's the goddess of war! All of this—" she gestured at the barricades around them, "Was caused by war. War started all of this!"

"War never killed your father." Mars said deadly calm compared to Reyna's fury. "That was pure rage that killed your father. Or do you forget, Reyna _Avila Ramírez-Arellano_?"

Suddenly she was in the kitchen of her San Juan home, watching her own history unfold before her eyes. She watched as he father chased her around the kitchen with the knife in his hands. Reyna screamed for Hylla, and just as the older girl came in, her father picked up the kitchen chair and threw it at her sister. Even to this day, she could feel the fear and the rage well up inside her as the chair knocked Hylla unconscious.

She saw herself, barely nine-years-old scream Hylla's name. She watched as she ran to the kitchen table where she had seen the Imperial Gold saber. She grabbed it off the table and with a scream attacked her father with it. His body instantly crumbled to dust.

Reyna began to tremble, and Mars's voice appeared in her mind. "You killed your own father because of your rage. And he was not the last person to die by your temper."

Suddenly she was transported back to Blackbeard's ship. This was less than a year ago. She wanted to cry as she watched the vision. She knew what was going to happen.

She watched as the pirate smacked her eleven-year-old self. One of the drunk pirates grabbed her arms and pulled her close to her face. She could still remember the smell of alcohol on his breath.

"She's a feisty one, this one." He inhaled deeply, smelling her hair, "I like 'em feisty." The pirate licked his lips, and Reyna screamed.

"Hylla!"

"You think your sister's going to save you little girl? We'll put both of you in your place!"

Reyna watched as she screamed again, but she knew this time wasn't out of fear, but rage. She watched as her eleven-year-old self grabbed the Imperial Gold dagger from the pirate and jam it into his heart.

The pirate was so drunk, he barely realized what had happened before he evaporated into dust. Without a second thought, she stabbed the other pirate.

Reyna knew what would happen next. Hylla would steal a lifeboat for the two of them to escape. The would be met by the Amazons, and Hylla would leave her. She hadn't talked to her sister since then.

"Even your own sister receives your rage." Mars's voice filtered through the dream.

"She left me!" Reyna screamed. If the memories were supposed to get her to control her rage, it wasn't working. She felt years of anger boiling inside her.

"Your father's death was the first casualty of your rage. Learn to control it, or there will be more blood on your hands. This is your last warning."

Suddenly, Reyna was jolted awake, feeling like someone had dumped ice water on her. She jumped out of bed and slipped a sweatshirt and her tennis shoes. The room suddenly felt too claustrophobic. She needed to clear her head.

She grabbed her dagger and bolted from the bunker, remembering the dreams that Mars showed her. _Not dreams_. She reminded herself, _Memories._ As she walked, she could feel the anger building inside of her; at Bellona for ignoring her, at her father for the way he abused them, at Hylla for abandoning her for the Amazons, at Blackbeard, at Mars, at Percy Jackson, at Octavian, at Lupa, at Jason and this stupid quest.

She screamed and threw her dagger into a tree as hard as she could. A startled wood nymph muttered something rude about Reyna under her breath, but she didn't care. She heard a branch crack. She turned and glared at the intruder and felt another surge of anger as Jason Grace cautiously entered the clearing, his sword drawn.

He eyed her suspiciously and flipped his sword back into a gold coin and tucked it into his pocket. He gingerly pulled her dagger out of the tree. "What are you doing here?" he asked carefully.

"I could ask you the same question." Reyna spat back.

Jason shrugged, feigning casualness, but Reyna could see the tension in his shoulders. "I couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd go for a walk." He narrowed his eyes, "I heard you scream. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Reyna said too quickly.

Jason raised an eyebrow and looked at the dagger in his hands, "If this is you being 'fine,' I definitely don't want to see you when you're not fine."

She closed her eyes and thought of Mars's warning. Exhaustion suddenly replaced her anger, leaving her feeling hallow. "It's something I have to figure out for myself." She said.

Jason was quiet for a moment, and in the moonlight, his blond hair appeared white. He tentatively took a seat down next to her on the ground and handed her the weapon.

"Sometimes it helps to talk about it with friends." Jason said after another moment.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't really have a lot of those." Reyna said blandly.

Jason thought for a moment, "Well, you are kind of scary." He joked, trying to ease the tension between them.

She gave him one of her signature glares, and Jason actually laughed, "See, that look right there would scare Medusa."

She tried to hold her stare, but Jason could see the corners of her lips trying not to smile.

"Ah-ha! I knew you were able to smile." Jason grinned, "Dakota owes me five bucks."

Reyna scowled and punched him in the arm, but it was mostly playful.

"Ow." Jason said, rubbing his arm jokingly, "Is punching people how you made friends before you came here? Because I don't know if that'll work with Romans."

Reyna stared at the ground, any hint of a smile disappearing from her face. "I didn't really have a lot of friends before coming here either."

Jason frowned, "Really?"

Reyna shook her head, "No it was just me and… me and my sister." She said. She felt tears begin to burn her eyes, but she blinked them away. Lupa had told her that she would not cry over her sister anymore.

"What happened to her?" Jason asked quietly, almost afraid to hear the answer. If she and her sister were both captured by Blackbeard, he wondered if maybe her sister hadn't escaped.

"She left me." Reyna said bitterly, "I haven't heard from her in two months."

"Oh." Jason said, suddenly feeling dumb. "And I'm guessing your dad is—"

Reyna grimaced, "He's dead."

Jason didn't pry anymore. A lot of demigods had strained relations with their mortal parents. He had a feeling there was a lot that Reyna didn't feel like telling him.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I don't even know my mom." He with a shrug, "And I've been here about eight years and I've got a total of three friends, although one of them is leaving for college, so I guess that leaves me with two friends… But don't worry, in about four years you should have at least one friend." He joked trying to lighten the mood again.

Her lips twitched like she was trying not to smile again.

"By the way." Jason said, growing serious, "I wanted to apologize about yesterday, and not agreeing with you. I really want you to be right… well, I mostly just want Octavian to be wrong, but I also don't want to jeopardize my first quest just because I hate Octavian."

Reyna thought for a moment, "I still don't think he's right. But I can understand why you would agree with him."

Jason nodded, unsure if he should thank her or try to argue with her. He decided to change the subject, "I'm also sorry about Octavian telling everyone your secret. He's a little weasel. But I'll try to at least get the Fifth Cohort to stop talking about it."

Reyna gave him a suspicious look, like she was trying to figure out if he had ulterior motives. But she finally nodded, "Thanks."

The silence that followed wasn't exactly awkward, but it wasn't very comfortable either. "Well," Jason said, jumping to his feet, "We should probably try to sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow."

He held out his hand to help her up, and she eyed it like she couldn't decide if she should accept his help or chop it off with her dagger. She reluctantly took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

They walked back to the barracks in awkward silence. Jason wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to this girl, who seemed so lost, but could also easily run him through with her sword. He really hoped their whole quest wouldn't be this awkward, but he didn't have high expectations. They reached the barracks of the Fifth Cohort.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Jason said, eager to escape the tense silence.

Reyna nodded soundlessly. Sometime during the walk, she had regained her attitude of bored indifference, and Jason almost couldn't believe that the Reyna he had found in the woods was the same person standing in front of him.

"Goodnight, Reyna." He said, as she began walking toward the Third Cohort barracks.

She paused, but didn't face him, "Goodnight, Jason."


	6. Chapter 6

**So I finished the House of Hades. TBH it wasn't my favorite, which is interesting because the fourth PJO book wasn't my favorite either. But still, I'm shook. Also I need more Reyna in my life. It bums me out that the next Apollo book won't come out until next fall. :( I've decided I'm going to read the next two PJO books in Russian before I finish the HOO series, because I have a feeling I'll be devastated when I finish HOO and I won't have any money left on my Amazon account to begin a new series. I've noticed there are a few inconsistencies between my story here and the actual series, but I'm gonna keep rolling with it, because I don't think they're large enough details to really matter all that much. Anyway, I really really really love reviews, so if you like this story definitely let me know. They keep me motivated to keep writing. To those of you that have already reviewed, you're the bomb diggity. Hope you enjoy.**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **VI.**

Jason was up early the next morning. He was jittery to begin his first quest, but he was feeling at least a little better about it than he was yesterday. At least he and Reyna were sort of on speaking terms.

He quickly showered and then grabbed his backpack and ran to the mess hall. There weren't too many campers that early, but Reyna was already there with Evander. Her hair was neatly braided down her back and she wore a purple Camp Jupiter shirt, jean shorts, and hiking shoes. If it wasn't for the dagger strapped to her shorts, she could have easily passed as a regular middle schooler on her way to summer camp. She and Evander were looking over a map of the North America as they ate.

"What're you looking at?" Jason asked, sitting down next to Reyna.

"It's a map." Reyna said dryly, but Jason could see a playful smirk at the corner of her mouth.

"Har, har, har. Very funny." Jason said sarcastically, causing Reyna to give him a playful look.

Evander chuckled, "It's a map of the West and the corresponding known Roman locations."

Jason looked over Reyna's shoulder at the map. He recognized most of the places listed, but there were a few he didn't recognize.

"The Sea of Monsters?" Jason asked, "I've never heard of that."

Reyna gave him a strange look, "Really? Your namesake was one of the heroes to sail through it."

Jason shrugged, "So the Sea of Monsters is in the Bermuda Triangle?"

Evander gave him a wry smile, "More like the Sea of Monsters _is_ the Bermuda Triangle. Even mortals know there's something dangerous there."

Jason blew out a puff of air, "Well, I say we try to avoid that and any other place named after monsters."

"Agreed." Reyna said.

They ate in silence as Reyna and Evander continued to study the map. Charlie spotted them and came over to join them at the table, "Glad to see you two aren't at each other's throats yet." He joked as he peeled the wrapper off of his muffin.

Jason rolled his eyes and threw one of his grapes at the former centurion. "What are you doing up this early anyway?" Jason asked.

Charlie smiled, "I told Lee and Aurelia I could drop you guys off in San Francisco. I'm heading there any way for orientation tomorrow."

"I still can't believe you're leaving us to go to college." Jason said, pouting.

Charlie grinned, and ruffled Jason's hair, "Ah don't worry about it, I'll come and visit during breaks. You can't completely get rid of me that easily."

"You made our cohort sort of cool though." Jason moaned, "How are we going to get our reputation back without you."

Charlie laughed, "You're a centurion now. And you won the War Games yesterday. Succeed on this quest, and you'll definitely be on the right track to restoring our former glory."

"I don't suppose you have any idea what we're supposed to be looking for?" Jason asked hopefully.

"Sorry, Jase. I don't know anymore than you do. But you guys will figure it out as you go. Just think of it like a scavenger hunt." Charlie said.

"A scavenger hunt where people could die if we mess up." Reyna pointed out.

Charlie gave them a cheeky grin, "An extreme scavenger hunt. It'll be fun. Now come on, let's get you guys to San Francisco."

* * *

The ride up to San Francisco was mostly uneventful. Jason and Charlie told Reyna stories about their time at Camp Jupiter. As they got closer to San Francisco, the fog began to roll in off the mountains.

"The mist is really strong here." Charlie explained, "It has to be. The Garden of the Hesperides is here, and Mount Tam is just beyond that."

"Mount Tam, that's where Atlas is holding up the sky, right?" Reyna asked. Jason nodded grimly.

"Yeah, try to avoid Atlas if you can." Charlie said, "You do not want to be tricked into holding up the sky."

Reyna gave Jason a pointed look. Jason furrowed his brow, "Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm not about to hold up the sky for some Titan with anger management problems."

Charlie pulled up to the base of the mountain, "Well guys, this is as far as I can go." He said, "Good luck with everything. If you need something, you can give me a call, but just remember monsters can track you easier when you use a cell phone."

Jason nodded, before giving the older boy a hug. "Thanks for everything. We'll really miss you."

"Ah, you guys will be fine without me." He smiled, then held out his hand to shake Reyna's. "I'm glad we had the chance to meet, Reyna. You'll make a great Roman." He nodded towards Jason, "Make sure you keep this one in line."

Reyna actually smiled, "Of course. Good luck in college."

He gave them one last wave before he got into his car and drove away. Jason took a deep breath and turned to Reyna, "You ready?"

"You're the leader." Reyna said.

Jason nodded, "Okay then, let's start this quest."

They climbed the mountain in silence, both of them thinking about the quest. "It's driving me crazy that we don't even know what we're supposed to be looking for." Jason said, breaking the silence, "Like do we just stroll up to the Hesperides and say, 'hey we're on a quest, do you have a thing we might want?'"

"Oh, I'm sure that will work." Reyna said sarcastically.

Jason shrugged, "You never know. I mean this quest already feels like a wild goose chase. Maybe we'll get lucky."

As they got closer to the summit, the air became heavier with fog. Reyna stopped in her tracks, "Do you smell that?"

"She who smelt it, dealt it." Jason said, grinning as Reyna scowled at him.

"You're not nearly as funny as you think you are." She said.

Jason frowned, "I'll have you know, I'm very funny." He sniffed the air, "It smells like cough drops."

"Eucalyptus." Reyna said.

"A koala _and_ a dragon's favorite snack." Jason said feigning cheeriness, "We must be close. And to think I was hoping this was one monster from mythology that had stayed dead."

Reyna gave him a pointed look that clearly said, _it was your dumb decision to come here_. Of course, Octavian would send them to get killed by a dragon. The real kicker would be if they didn't actually find anything that would help them on their quest.

"Okay, we need a game plan." Jason said.

"I have one. Try to not get killed by a giant dragon." Reyna suggested dryly.

"Good plan. Let's do this."

Despite it only being eleven in the morning, the Garden of the Hesperides was cast in a warm sunset. The sky glowed a beautiful orange/ purple color, leaving everything in a soft glow. Topiaries and beautiful flowering plants filled the garden. On the far end, a lone tree grew with round golden apples hanging from the branches.

A large dragon lay curled protectively under the tree as a group of four girls played music for the dragon. The girls were beautiful, with long dark hair, and soft brown skin that seemed to glow in the lighting.

One of the girls spotted them and the other quickly stopped their playing. The dragon started to rise, a low growl escaping its throat, but one of the girls calmed it. The oldest of the girls walked over to them. She looked to be about 18.

She eyed them curiously, but not unkindly. "Hello. I am Aegle, the oldest daughter of Atlas. Goddess of evening and protectress of this garden. Who are you?" she asked.

Jason looked at Reyna, but she seemed to be in a stare-down with the other Hesperides. He cleared his throat, "I'm Jason Grace, son of Jupiter. This is Reyna, daughter of Bellona."

Aegle smiled at Reyna warmly, "Oh don't mind them" she said softly, "You just look like someone we knew."

Reyna turned her attention back to the oldest of the Hesperides, "Who?"

She gave Reyna a sad look, "Our younger sister. She left us to join some hunters…"

Reyna's eyes widened in shock, "The Amazons?"

She smiled sadly and gave Reyna's hand a squeeze. Jason half expected Reyna to pull away from the goddess, but she appeared to be in a trance.

"No, not the Amazons; a different group. Though I can sense you feel our pain. Your sister left you too." She spoke it as a fact, and Reyna nodded wordlessly.

Aegle reached forward and tucked a loose strand of Reyna's black hair behind her ear, "You could stay with us." She said softly, "You could be our little sister, and we could be the family you've always wanted."

Jason nudged Reyna with his elbow, which seemed to break her out of her trance. "Sorry," Jason said, "But we're kind of on a time crunch. We're here on a quest, so we really can't stay."

Aegle's warm features grew cold, "You allow this boy to speak for you?"

Reyna's regular stony expression had returned, "No," she said calmly, "I speak for myself. But he is right. We're here on a quest. Is there anything you might know that could help us?"

Aegle looked genuinely sad that Reyna had turned down her offer, "Unfortunately I haven't heard anything that could be pertinent to a Roman quest. My father may know something though. He's recently been visited by another demigod."

Reyna glanced at Jason in confusion, but he was just as confused as she was. Camp hadn't authorized another quest to the garden, so who was the other demigod?

"If you stay along the edge of the garden away from the apple tree, Ladon should not attack you." Aegle said.

"Should?" Reyna asked, but Aegle just smiled.

"Be careful around my father. Even with the weight of the sky on his shoulders he can be dangerous. Do not be tricked by him" she looked at Reyna, "And Reyna, if you change your mind about my offer, just let me know."

A pained look crossed Reyna's face, "Thank you, but no thank you. I have a duty to Rome."

The goddess smiled softly as she walked back toward her sisters, "Very well. Good luck heroes."

Reyna and Jason skirted around the edge of the garden, glad to avoid the dragon. As they approached a large cavern, Jason glanced at Reyna. The conversation with Aegle had clearly bothered her, but she didn't show it with her head held high and her face impassive.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Reyna glanced at him, and for a brief second, Jason could see through her façade. "I'm okay. I was just… caught off guard."

Jason nodded, and tried to read her expression. "If there wasn't a quest, would you have stayed?"

If she was surprised by his question, she didn't show it. "I—"

"LUKE!" a voice bellowed. Jason grabbed Reyna's arm and pulled them behind a stalagmite.

"Luke! Is that you?" the voice bellowed again. They peered from behind the rock and saw a large man standing underneath a massive swirling ceiling. He was dripping sweat, and the veins in his forehead popped out of his head from excursion.

Jason fiddled with his coin as he stepped out from behind the rockface. The titan squinted at Jason in confusion, "You're not Luke." Atlas grunted, "Who are you."

"I'm a demigod." Jason answered carefully, "I'm here on a quest."

Atlas gnashed his teeth, "You're too early! The plan isn't ready yet!"

Jason looked back at Reyna, but she looked just as confused as he felt, "What plan?" he asked.

But the titan ignored him, "Are you here to take the sky? Are you one of Luke's friends? He'll be here. I promise. But first you _must_ take the sky!"

Before Jason could answer, Reyna grabbed him by the arm and pulled him behind another stalagmite. "What are you—"

But Reyna shushed him and motioned toward the entrance of the cave. A tall blond-haired guy in his early twenties entered the cave. He had a long scar across his face, and a scowl on his lips.

"What are you going on about now?" The guy asked.

Reyna motioned for them to begin moving toward the exit as the man spoke with the titan. They quietly edged along the cavern behind the stalagmites, careful to not be seen.

"There's another demigod here." Atlas growled, "Is he here for you?"

The guy, Luke, Jason assumed, was quiet for a moment.

"Where?" Luke asked, his voice deadly.

They inched their way toward the exit as Luke searched the cave. Reyna motioned for him to wait as she moved toward the mouth of the cave. She was just about to make a run for it when Luke's sword swung down where Reyna had been standing seconds before.

She turned and pulled out her dagger, just barely managing to deflect his attack. Jason quickly flipped IVLIVS into his sword and ran to help Reyna.

Jason was one of Camp Jupiter's most skilled swordsmen, but Luke fought in a way Jason had never seen before, and he clearly fought with years of experience. Despite his skill, he could not over power two of them, and as Jason deflected Luke's blow, Reyna managed to disarm him.

Realizing what had happened, he kicked Jason in the chest and ran for his sword, while Reyna grabbed Jason's hand as they ran for the exit. They ran back to the garden, with Luke close behind them. The Hesperides were nowhere to be seen.

Before Jason could even process what had happened, Reyna yanked him toward the perimeter of the garden, but not before Ladon swung on of his heads toward Jason; its massive fangs sinking into Jason's shoulder.

He screamed in pain, and Reyna stabbed her dagger into the dragon's neck, causing it to release Jason's shoulder. Reyna grabbed him by his uninjured arm and pulled him to the edge of the garden. A tingling feeling started in his arm where the dragon had bit him, but it quickly moved to his whole body. He suddenly had a hard time focusing. Reyna was practically carrying him through the garden. Her voice came to him in and out of focus, like a radio with poor reception.

"…told you we shouldn't have come here!" he heard her say.

"Less 'told-you-so,' more escaping, please." Jason said, his words slurring.

He just registered the look of alarm on her face before everything went black.


	7. Chapter 7

**I wrote a new chapter, so I figured I would update. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! I really love the reviews I've gotten so far. You guy are the best. Hope you enjoy this update.**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **VII.**

When Jason finally woke, it was dark. His shoulder was still sore, but the burning, tingly feeling was gone. Instead, he just felt groggy, like he had just taken a strong dose of Benadryl. He took in his surroundings. They were in a forest clearing. Reyna was leaning against a tree trunk with one headphone in her ear. She lazily tossed her dagger at a dead tree trunk. Judging by the marks on the tree, she had been at it for a while.

Her eyes flicked over to him as he moved, "Good morning, sleeping beauty."

He groaned as he tried to sit up, his head felt like it was spinning. "How long was I out?" he asked, trying to ignore the nausea he felt.

Reyna looked at her watch, "Well, it's almost four in the morning, so you can do the math."

Jason sucked in a breath, "Styx, were you able to get food or something?"

Reyna gave him a funny look, "I tried to order a pizza, but apparently Dominoes doesn't deliver to forests on a mountain. I packed some snacks, but otherwise, no."

Jason winced, "Did you at least sleep at all?"

"No, I figured someone should make sure you didn't die in your sleep."

Jason was glad it was dark so Reyna couldn't see his face burning. He felt so embarrassed and guilty. He was supposed to be the quest leader, and so far, all he had managed to do was to get knocked unconscious. Obviously, Octavian had sent them to the wrong place, and Jason had listened to him.

"Reyna, I'm so sorry. You were right, we shouldn't have gone here. I shouldn't have listened to Octavian. Now I've cost us a whole day." Jason said miserably.

Reyna looked at him like she wasn't sure how to take his apology. "You did what you thought was right. It didn't work out, but that doesn't make you a bad leader." She paused for a moment, before adding, "I'm glad you're not dead."

At that, Jason cracked a smile, "You and me both. Thanks for getting me out of there."

Reyna smirked, "Yeah, well, next time you decide to pass out, please lose like fifty pounds. You're a lot heavier than you look."

"It's all that muscle." He joked, causing Reyna to roll her eyes at him, but he could see the trace of a smile on her lips.

"By the way," he asked, "what happened to that Luke guy? Did he try to follow us?"

Reyna's face grew dark, "No. Thankfully he didn't. I think the dragon spooked him. I don't know what I would have done if he had followed us."

"He was good." Jason said.

"You've never seen him before?" Reyna asked, "I think he's a demigod."

Jason shook his head, "I've never seen him at camp. If he is a demigod, he wasn't trained there."

Reyna nodded thoughtfully before letting out a yawn.

"Styx, Reyna, you should get some sleep. I can keep watch." Jason said. Reyna eyed him skeptically, like she still expected him to pass out.

"I promise I won't pass out or die while you're sleeping." He added. That seemed to satisfy her. She used her backpack as a pillow, and quickly fell asleep.

It was almost 07:00, and Jason began to doze off, when he heard Reyna cry out in her sleep, startling him awake. She had a pained expression on her face as she slept, "Hylla." She cried.

Jason winced. He knew it wasn't uncommon for demigods to have nightmares. He could sometimes hear his bunkmates cry out in their sleep, but with just the two of them, he felt like he was invading Reyna's privacy.

Suddenly she woke up with a gasp, like she had been suffocating. She looked around in a panic, not recognizing where she was.

"Reyna," Jason said quietly, but she still jumped at the sound of his voice, "You're okay."

Her shoulders relaxed as she recognized him, and she rubbed her eyes in exhaustion. "Sorry." She mumbled, not looking at him.

"Nightmare?" he asked, hating how shaken she looked.

She nodded wordlessly, still not looking at him.

Jason nodded understandingly, "About the quest or personal?"

She played with the material of her sweatshirt. Without her usual confidence, she looked younger, like she was still a kid. _We are still kids._ Jason reminded himself.

"It was about my sister. Hylla." She said finally, "So personal."

"Is she a demigod too?" Jason asked.

Reyna nodded, "Yeah. She actually knew who our mom was. I think Bellona must have talked to her at some point, maybe before I was born. But Hylla never told me who she was."

Jason frowned, "Why wouldn't she tell you?"

Reyna pursed her lips like it was a difficult topic to discuss, "She resented our mother. I used to think it was because she left us with our dad… now I think I understand."

"You and your sister didn't get along with your dad?" Jason asked.

"Hylla told me he used to be okay." Reyna said slowly, like she was trying to disconnect herself from the story, "He was in the military, and he was deployed right before I was born. I guess he was injured in battle. Hylla said when he came back, something inside him had snapped. He wasn't a good father. Not while I knew him."

"But your dad's dead now? What happened?" Jason asked quietly.

Reyna stared at the ground for a moment, and Jason wondered if maybe he shouldn't have asked. Finally, she spoke, "His soul was consumed by a mania."

Jason frowned, "A mania?"

"Spirits of insanity. Eventually Hylla and I ran away, and as Octavian already told you, eventually we were kidnapped by Blackbeard." Reyna said. Jason could tell there was a lot more to her story that she wasn't sharing, but Jason didn't want to pry anymore.

Jason had always been curious about his Mom. Sometimes he tried to imagine what it would be like growing up with a loving mother, who made him cookies or helped him with his homework. He'd always wanted to know his mom, but Reyna had known her father, and it was clear she had not had a good relationship with him.

She stared at him like she dared him to try and pity her. He knew the feeling. Growing up, people had either pitied him or feared him. They only ever saw him as the orphan son of Jupiter.

"How is it that probably the two most messed up kids at camp ended up on a quest together?" Jason finally joked, noticing the tension leave her shoulders.

Reyna even cracked a hint of a smile, "I told you my sob story, Sparkles, let's hear yours."

Jason opened his mouth in protest, "Sparkles? What kind of nickname is that?"

Reyna smirked, "After I gave you some ambrosia and unicorn drought you kept giving off little sparks of electricity. They looked like little sparkles."

"You're a bully." Jason pouted, causing Reyna to actually grin. "My sob story is more of a lack of a story. I don't know anything about my mom, or my life before camp. Someone took me to Lupa when I was a baby, and I spent a few years there until I was taken to New Rome. I couldn't officially join the legion until I was ten, but I participated in the classes, some of the War Games, and the chores. When I turned ten I got to choose my cohort and fully join the legion."

Reyna gave him a curious look, "You're the son of Jupiter. You could have joined any cohort. Why would you join the Fifth? Evander said they're—"

"Cursed? Failures? A bunch of losers?" Jason filled in.

Reyna frowned, "I was going to say 'unlucky,' but I guess if the shoe fits."

Jason cracked a smile, "Yeah. It's true, but they were the only ones who didn't treat me like a celebrity or like they were scared of me because of my dad. Charlie treated me like a brother, and Dakota and Gwen became my friends when they joined later."

"How old were you when your dad claimed you?" Reyna asked.

Jason shrugged, "He never officially did. Lupa brought me to camp and told them who I was." Jason thought for a minute, "I guess she could have been wrong, but that would make the sparks hard to explain."

"Maybe you're a vampire… Sparkles." Reyna teased.

He stuck out his tongue at her, and she actually laughed. "Well, I guess you're right." She said, suddenly serious again, "We have issues."

Jason couldn't help the snort that escaped at her deadpan, "Come on," he said helping her to her feet, "We've got to get to Colorado."

* * *

By the time they reached the base of the mountain, they were both starving. They had eaten the snacks that they packed in their backpacks, but neither of them had eaten an actual meal since yesterday morning before they drove up to San Francisco.

By the time they had reached a small town, Jason was starting to feel hangry. The sweet smell of pancakes and maple syrup wafted through the air from a small diner at the end of the street.

"We're stopping." Jason said, his stomach growling.

Reyna must have been just as hungry, because she didn't argue. The sign above the diner was lit with neon lights despite it being almost ten in the morning. The sign read: Lyssa's Loft. The pushed open the door, and a little bell twinkled above them. Even though it was a Saturday morning, the diner was empty.

Reyna frowned, "Is it open?"

"Of course, we're open, dear!" A woman's voice shouted from the back.

"This doesn't feel right." Reyna whispered to Jason.

Jason felt a spark of annoyance at her. He knew it was just because it was hungry, but he couldn't understand why she felt so paranoid. "It's fine, we're just getting breakfast."

"Why aren't there people here?" Reyna whispered back.

Before Jason could answer, a woman appeared from the kitchen. The woman had long dark hair and a kind face, but her skin was so unnaturally pale, she looked almost translucent.

Jason felt Reyna move unconsciously closer to him, her fingers grabbing at his sleeve. "We should go." She whispered to him.

"Relax, it's just breakfast. She looks friendly enough." Jason muttered to her.

The woman pulled out a notepad from her apron, "You kids are so skinny. You must be hungry. Please, take a seat."

Jason glanced at Reyna and shrugged, he didn't know why she was feeling so paranoid, but he was hungry. Reyna followed him to the booth, but her eyes never left their host.

"My name's Lyssa, I'll be taking care of you kids today." The woman said, "Would you like some pancakes and some eggs? Maybe some bacon as well? It's our house specialty."

Jason offered her a polite smile, "That sounds great. Thank you."

Lyssa smiled warmly and rubbed Jason's cheek affectionately. Jason tried to suppress the shiver that ran down his spine. Her hands were like ice.

She looked at Reyna, but Reyna had scooted into the booth as far from Lyssa as possible. Lyssa gave her a strange look, but then smiled, "I'll get that order ready for you. You kids just hold tight."

She went back to the kitchen, and Jason glared at Reyna, "What's wrong with you? Why are you being so rude?"

"Jason, we need to get out of here." Reyna said seriously, "There's something not right about Lyssa. I don't think she's human."

Reyna's face was so serious, Jason almost listened to her, but then Lyssa came out with the food, and he completely forgot about what they were talking about. Even Reyna's eyes lit up hungrily as Lyssa dropped the food off in front of them. It was enough to feed ten people. There was a mountain of fluffy pancakes that was almost higher than Jason's head, there were fried and scrambled eggs, and a whole plate of crispy bacon and sausage.

"You kids enjoy." Lyssa said, walking back to the kitchen.

Jason's mouth watered just looking at it, and he quickly dug in.

"I guess we can eat first." Reyna said, as she began stacking pancakes onto her plate.

They devoured as much as they could eat, but when they were full, they had hardly put a dent in the mountain of food.

"Are you kids done already?" Lyssa asked, disappointed, "You're both so skinny, you should really eat more."

Jason was so stuffed, he was certain if he tried to eat anymore he would throw up. "No thank you, ma'am. We're very full. Could we get the bill please?"

"You don't want any dessert?" she asked hopefully, "I have pie, cake, milkshakes…"

Reyna grimaced, "That won't be necessary."

Lyssa frowned, "Very well, I'll be right back with your check."

She headed back into the kitchen.

"I told you there was nothing to worry about. You were probably just hungry." Jason said.

Reyna frowned, "I don't know. I still have a weird feeling about this place." She looked at all of the leftover food, "How much do you think all of this is going to cost?"

Jason frowned, he hadn't really thought about that. Camp had given them some money for food and transportation, but this was a serious amount of food. He looked at his watch, it was already 11:30. They really needed to get going. He wondered what was taking Lyssa so long.

"It's a little weird she hasn't come back yet." Jason admitted, "It's not like she's very busy."

Reyna nodded in agreement. She stood up carefully, glancing toward the kitchen, but she couldn't see Lyssa. She walked over to the door and tried pushing it open, but the door didn't budge.

She glanced back at Jason, "It's locked."

Jason felt the blood drain from his face, and he jumped up and ran over to her, and tried the door himself. Sure enough, the door wouldn't budge.

"Are you children planning on leaving without paying?" Lyssa spoke, suddenly appearing behind them, causing both of them to jump.

Jason could feel Reyna's fingers digging into his arm. She was definitely right, there was something off about Lyssa.

"We uh…"

"You kids are so skinny." Lyssa scolded, "Are you sure you won't eat more?"

"No, actually ma'am, we've really got to get going." Jason said, trying to keep the fear out of his voice, "If we could just pay the bill, we'll be on our way."

"I hate when they're too skinny. Never enough meat." Lyssa spoke to herself, "Oh well."

Suddenly she lunged at the two of them. Reyna pushed Jason one way, and she ran the other way, avoiding Lyssa.

Lyssa hissed at Reyna, and Jason noticed that her teeth had grown longer and sharper, like a shark. "You are a little brat." Lyssa growled at Reyna, "I think I'll eat you first."

She lunged at Reyna, who just barely rolled out of the way in time, "No thank you." Reyna said sprinting across the diner away from the monster, but Lyssa could apparently appear where she wanted, and she suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of Reyna. Reyna tried to back pedal but slipped on the linoleum flood.

Jason flipped his sword and charged at the monster, but she disappeared again, reappearing across the diner. Luckily, she was far enough away that Reyna could recover. She jumped to her feet and ran toward the kitchen.

"Come on!" Reyna said, sprinting to the kitchen door.

Jason followed her, and they slammed the door. Jason could feel Lyssa banging on the door as she tried to break through.

"What is she?" Jason asked, unsure how long they could hold the door. He worried that she would use her powers and suddenly appear in the kitchen.

"I think she's a Mormolyce." Reyna said. She bit her tongue as she tried to think of a plan.

"Okay, better question, how do we defeat her?" Jason asked frantically as he felt the hinges on the door begin to give.

Reyna's eyes scanned the kitchen, when she spotted an oven. It was a large, industrial-sized oven made of Celestial Bronze. Lyssa probably used it to bake her victims. Reyna's eyes widened, she had an idea.

"Have you ever read Hansel and Gretel?" Reyna asked him.

Jason gave her an exasperated look, "What does that—" but then he spied the oven, "Oh." He said, finally getting her plan, he looked at her, "Do you want to be Hansel or Gretel?"

"Coming here was your dumb idea." Reyna pointed out angrily.

"But she hates you more." Jason said honestly.

Reyna scowled, "Fine, but you better get her."

Reyna crawled away from the kitchen door and quickly ran to the oven. She turned the dials to as hot as they would go, and she opened up the kitchen door, and waited in front of it.

"Ready?" Jason asked, unsure how much longer he could hold the door.

Reyna took a deep breath. She could feel the heat from the oven on her back, "Ready."

He quickly jumped away from the door and ran over to the oven. Lyssa burst through the door. She looked around wildly, and her eyes narrowed as they landed on Reyna.

"You!" she screamed, and she charged toward Reyna.

Reyna waited until the last possible second, before jumping out of Lyssa's way. Lyssa realized to late what had happened, as she tripped and fell into the open oven. Jason jumped out from behind the oven and shoved the monster's legs into the oven before slamming the door and locking it, muffling Lyssa's screams.

Jason slumped onto the floor, his heart beating wildly in his chest. He looked over at Reyna who was leaning against the large industrial-sized fridge.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked, when his voice finally returned.

She just nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Jason let out a deep breath, "Good plan." He said.

She stared at him, "That's twice now that you haven't listened to me and we've almost died. You've lost your veto privileges."

Jason winced, she was right. She didn't seem as angry as she probably should have been, but maybe that was because she was still recovering from shock over almost dying. "Sorry." He said sheepishly, "At least we got a free meal out of it."

Reyna stared at him, like she wasn't sure if he was being serious or not. Lyssa's screams finally stopped, and Jason peaked in the oven. There was nothing there but dust. He let out a sigh of relief and turned off the oven.

"Let's get out of here." Jason said.

"Finally, a plan I agree with." Reyna said.


	8. Chapter 8

**It's Nov. 1, so that means its NaNo WriMo time. My goal is to try to finish this story by the end of this month. It's a lofty goal, but we'll see what I can do. I'm really enjoying writing this story so far, though I'll admit, this chapter is kind of a filler chapter. It's not my favorite, but it had to be written. I'll try to finish another chapter tonight, so I can post the next chapter soon. Hope you're enjoying the story and I hope you all had a happy Halloween. As always, reviews make my day. You're all swell.**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **VIII.**

"So, how are we supposed to get to Colorado from here?" Reyna asked as they walked down the dirt road that ran through the little mountain town, "Walking?"

Her shock over the diner incident had begun to fade and was replaced with irritation at Jason for not listening to her in the first place. If they had just gone straight to Colorado like she had said, they would have been significantly further along on their quest than they already were. She knew it wasn't entirely his fault. Octavian had made a convincing argument to go to Mount Tam. But then they were attacked by Luke, and then the dragon, and then the Mormolyce. Reyna was getting annoyed.

"I was going to call, Charlie and see if he could give us a lift. I need to find a payphone first." Jason said, nodding at the gas station payphone.

"Doesn't he have orientation today?" Reyna pointed out, "And can't monsters use phones to find demigods?"

Jason grumbled something not so polite under his breath, and Reyna rolled her eyes at him. "We need another plan," she said.

"If you want to be quest leader, by all means, be my guest," Jason snapped.

Reyna frowned, suddenly feeling a little guilty. She knew he felt bad enough about Mount Tam and the diner. And he hadn't asked to be leader of their quest. "Sorry," Reyna mumbled. "I'm just stressed."

"Me too." Jason sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, making the blond strands stick up funny. They had already passed most of the main town buildings and were near the outskirts of the mountain town. He noticed an old pickup truck at a gas station at the end of the road. The truck had a bunch of old junk in the back and was tied down with a tarp pulled over it. A San Francisco State sticker was stuck to the rusted bumper.

Jason looked at Reyna who was watching him curiously, "I might have an idea." He nodded toward the truck and glanced at Reyna, anxious about her reaction. He really wanted to be a good leader, but he knew if Reyna didn't agree to his plan, he wouldn't force it. So far, she had been right about Mount Tam and about the diner. If she thought this was a bad plan, he was going to listen to her this time.

"Look, I'll trust your decision, but we really need to decide like now, because our truck driver is almost finished paying." Jason said anxiously.

Reyna bit her lip, "I don't like it, but—"

" _But_ …" Jason prodded.

Reyna sighed, "But I don't really have a better plan."

Jason let out a sigh of relief, "Glad to hear it. Let's go!"

They crept up behind the truck and looked into the store to make sure no one was watching. Luckily it was a small town without a lot of pedestrians, but Jason still felt anxious. They quickly hoisted themselves up into the bed of the truck and laid flat, so they wouldn't be spotted by the truck driver. They were mostly covered by the tarp. The only way anyone would see them is if they were to look directly into the truck bed.

They heard the crunch of gravel as the driver returned to his truck. Jason closed his eyes and prayed to whatever god was in charge of hiding and sneaking that they wouldn't be caught. But the driver never looked in the back. They heard the motor turn over, and soon they were leaving the mountain town behind.

"Now, we just have to hope he's actually heading to San Francisco." Reyna said, hoisting herself up onto her elbows.

Jason winced as they hit a pothole. It definitely wasn't the most comfortable mode of transportation. They were lying on their stomachs on the hard truck bed to avoid being seen, but they were cramped from all of the junk already in the back.

"Even if he just goes somewhere we can call a taxi, that would be good." Jason said.

"What if he goes to his house?" Reyna asked.

"We'll jump out before then." Jason reassured her.

Reyna seemed satisfied with his answer, and Jason watched as she closed her eyes and rested her head on her arms.

He winced as they hit another bump. "You can't possibly be comfortable enough to sleep right now."

Reyna opened one eye and glared at him, "I'm tired, and we've got a long ride to civilization, so shut up and let me sleep."

"But it's so uncomfortable," Jason whined. He hated being cramped or in confined spaces. It made him twitchy. He liked to have space to move his legs. "And if you fall asleep, I'm going to be so bored."

Reyna glared at him, and Jason knew he was being unfair. He had slept for almost the entire day yesterday, and she had only slept for a few hours last night. He should really let her sleep.

"Fine, go ahead and sleep," he sighed. "I'll wake you up when we need to go."

She didn't respond, and Jason almost couldn't believe his eyes when he looked over and she was already asleep. _I guess she really did revoke my veto privileges._

An hour later, they had finally reached civilization again. They weren't quite in San Francisco city proper, but they were in a busy sea town probably twenty minutes away.

Jason was ready to get out of the truck. He was fairly certain his ribs were going to be bruised from banging against the truck bed so many times. He didn't know how Reyna was able to sleep. She must have really been exhausted.

He nudged her, and instantly her eyes were open and alert. "We should probably try to get out soon." Jason said, "We're in a busy area. We should be able to get a taxi to take us to the airport."

Reyna nodded and propped herself up on her elbows to peer out of the back of the truck. "Let's go now. We're slowing down and there's no one behind us."

They quickly crawled out of the back of the truck, careful so the driver wouldn't spot them. The truck was still moving, but it was going slow enough that they were able to jump out relatively easily.

Unfortunately, the driver must have noticed them from his mirrors. He instantly slammed on the breaks, and quickly got out of his truck, "What the hell do you kids think you're doing?" the man yelled.

"Run!" Jason said, taking off down the street in the opposite direction of truck, Reyna was fast behind him.

The man ran after them, but they quickly rounded a corner that turned onto a busier intersection and were able to lose him in the crowd.

As the two caught their breath, Jason couldn't help but laugh as the adrenaline wore off. Reyna gave him a curious look, but he saw that even she was smiling. She shook her head and started walking down the street, "Come on, we need to find a taxi."

* * *

"In here." Jason said, ducking into a building. Reyna gave Jason a questioning look as he led them into a local library. The building had a modern exterior and was pretty empty except for a few old people and a few mothers with their toddlers.

"We need to buy plane tickets." Jason explained as he walked over to the computer lab, "I really doubt they'll just let two thirteen-year-olds buy a plane ticket at the airport."

"Will they even let us check-in without an adult?" Reyna asked, sitting next to him at the computer.

Jason faltered, he hadn't thought about that, "I guess we'll see."

"Good plan." Reyna said dryly.

Sometimes Jason could appreciate Reyna's dry sarcasm, but there were other times where she made him feel just plain dumb. But it didn't bother him like it should have. There was something refreshing about having someone call him out when he was being stupid. Reyna definitely did it enough.

He quickly booked two tickets, typing in the Camp Jupiter credit card information and then printing out their itinerary. He handed Reyna her ticket.

Reyna studied the ticket, "You couldn't find a direct flight?"

Jason looked at his own ticket, they had an hour layover in Albuquerque, New Mexico. "A lot of the tickets for today were sold out. This was one of the only ones left."

"Okay." Reyna said, "We should get going then. Our flight leaves soon."

They quickly left library and were able to hail a taxi without any problems or running into any monsters. As they walked into the airport departure terminal, Jason really hoped that he would be able to get them onto the airplane. He knew the mist would be able to disguise their camp IDs to make them look like valid IDs, but he wasn't sure if they would actually let them board.

They approached the counter where a scowling woman with red hair and drawn on eyebrows was watching them skeptically. Jason tried to not feel intimidated as he handed her his and Reyna's itineraries and IDs.

She eyed the documents and scanned her eyes over the two of them. "Where are your parents."

"Colorado." Jason said, the lie coming to him quickly. "They had to catch an earlier flight. Our Aunt called customer service and they said we could just check in."

The woman studied him and Reyna, "You two have the same parents?" she asked skeptically.

Jason winced, of course he and Reyna looked nothing alike. Thankfully, Reyna seemed to be one step ahead of him.

"Our parents divorced." Reyna said quickly, "And then my dad remarried his mom. We're half-siblings. And we're really in a rush, our flight leaves soon, and our parents will be very angry if they find out you didn't let us on our flight."

The lady balked, but then put on her best customer service face, "Very well then. But since you are both under 14, you'll be provided an escort to make sure you make it safely back to your parents."

Jason scowled, he knew he should have gone with Southwest. "Fine."

They were met by a twenty-something-year-old man who looked like he'd much rather be doing anything than babysitting two middle schoolers. "Hi, I'm Jeff, I'll be watching you kids until you board your flight." He mumbled, sounding like he would actually die of boredom, "Please follow me."

Reyna rolled her eyes at Jason, but they followed the escort as he led them through security and to their gate. Thankfully, the metal detectors didn't detect Imperial Gold or Stygian Iron, otherwise they have had a lot of explaining to do to the TSA.

They sat in the silence at the gate lounge, waiting for boarding to start. Jeff, their escort, ignored them as he scrolled through his phone. Unfortunately, Jason was sure if they tried to ditch him they would definitely not be allowed to get on their flight. He glanced over at Reyna, who was fidgeting restlessly in her seat. He knew demigods almost always had ADHD, but Reyna always seemed so calm and collected, that it never occurred to him that she would have it too.

"Stop twitching, you're making me anxious." Jason said to her in Latin.

She scowled, and Jason rolled his eyes at her. "I don't like waiting." She grumbled, but she wasn't looking at Jason, her eyes were focused on a spot behind him.

Suddenly she jumped to her feet, "I'm going to go to the bathroom."

"Okay, don't get lost. Be back here in five minutes." Jeff said blandly, not looking up from his phone.

Jason gave her a curious look, but she didn't give him any answers. "I'll be right back." She said in Latin.

As minutes passed by, Jason felt more and more anxious. Where was Reyna? And what had she seen? Their flight was about to begin boarding, and Jeff looked at his watch irritably.

"Where's your sister?" he asked impatiently, "You don't think she got lost, do you?"

"I really hope not." Jason said, but then he spotted Reyna walking back in their direction. She had two coffee cups in her hands.

"You told me you were going to the bathroom." Jeff scowled, "And you come back with coffee?"

"It's hot chocolate actually." Reyna said smoothly. She handed a cup to Jason, "We're being followed." She said quietly in Latin so only he could hear.

Jason's eyes widened, and he glanced around trying to figure out who could be following them, "Who?"

"Hey, quit with the foreign-speak." Jeff said, "Come on, you two need to board now."

Jason wanted Reyna to elaborate, but Jeff took them to the ticket counter, and then they were escorted onto the airplane. Because they had booked the tickets so late, their seats were far apart from each other. Reyna was a few rows in front of him, but he couldn't see her over the seats. He just had to hope whatever was after them would wait until after the plane landed before it attacked them. The thought didn't really comfort him.

"After the flight, please wait in the first row, and someone from the crew will escort you to your next gate." One of the flight attendants said with a smile.

Jason nodded. They had probably told Reyna the same thing. She would wait for him after the flight. Jason watched as people boarded the plane. None of them really _seemed_ like monsters. He really wondered what Reyna had seen that made her think they were being followed.

After what seemed like a life time, the plane finally took off. The flight was short enough, but Jason couldn't relax. He wondered if whatever was following them was on the plane with them, or if they had left it in San Francisco.

Two and a half hours later, they were touching down in Albuquerque, and Jason felt his jitters finally leaving him. He waited a bit for the passengers to exit the plane before he made his way toward the front. He passed by the seat where Reyna had been sitting and frowned when she wasn't there. _She must already be waiting up front._ Jason thought to himself. But he couldn't shake the feeling of dread that began to build up.

As he got to the front of the plane, he realized his fears were confirmed; Reyna was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

**Woohoo, I finally finished a new chapter. Work has been actually kind of stressful lately and I've been sick, so my writing time has been limited lately, but not worries, I'm still plugging away. I like this chapter better than the last chapter, so I hope you enjoy. I'm like a technological Grandma and I don't know how to reply to reviews, but those of you who have reviewed are super sweet, and I appreciate every review you guys write. Reviews make my day. You guys are swell.**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **IX.**

Jason cursed under his breath as he desperately thought of a plan. He couldn't sit and wait for the airport escort. Who knew what would happen to Reyna if he did. But that also meant he had to sneak off the plane. He waited as a couple in their forties passed his seat, and he quickly jumped up to walk behind them, pretending to be their son. He only hoped the flight attendants wouldn't recognize him and try to stop him.

But for once, he lucked out and was able to get off the plane. He looked around the terminal desperate for some clue that would lead him to Reyna. He tried to think. If he were a monster trying to kidnap and possibly kill a demigod at an airport, where would he go? The monster would probably take Reyna to an area without a lot of people. But it was a Saturday afternoon. The airport was teeming with mortals.

He wandered around the terminal, when he noticed the DO NOT ENTER sign blocking what appeared to be renovations. He grimaced. He really hoped Reyna was there, and that he didn't end up getting kicked out of the airport for trespassing. He felt in his pocket to make sure IVLIVS was still there. He gripped the coin in his hand and taking a breath, he ducked behind the tarps covering the renovations.

The area behind the tarps and DO NOT ENTER signs led to a long empty hallway of an abandoned part of the airport. Jason couldn't hear anything, but he gripped IVLIVS in his fist as he crept down the corridor. Part of him wondered if he was walking right into a trap. But even if it was a trap, Reyna was in trouble, he had to help her. He approached a split in the hallway when he heard voices.

He flipped his coin into a sword and crept forward, careful not to be caught. He peered around the corner and saw where the voices were coming from. Standing with their backs to him was a boy who appeared to be a few years older than Jason and a cyclops. The boy was thin and lanky with dark brown hair. Jason wasn't overly concerned about the boy; he was so scrawny he looked like the wind could blow him over. No, Jason's biggest concern was the cyclops.

The cyclops was smaller than the average cyclops, which wasn't saying much as it still stood at least eight feet tall. He (at least Jason assumed it was a 'he') had sickly blue/green skin and long greasy yellow hair that hung limply around his shoulders like some sort of grotesque surfer dude. He wore a horrible highlighter orange Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts like he was getting ready for a beach vacation.

"Can't I just eat her now." The cyclops whined, "I'm getting hungry."

"No!" the boy snapped, "Luke said there were two of them. We have to wait until we catch the other one. Otherwise he could ruin the whole plan."

"Then we can eat them?" the cyclops asked hopefully.

The boy sighed, "Yes, then you can eat them. Now try again!"

Suddenly Jason heard Reyna scream. His heart felt like it stopped as her voice echoed through the empty halls.

"Help me! Please!"

He forced himself to stay calm. Charlie had told him a story about how a cyclops had almost lured him into a trap by mimicking the voice of one of his friends. He knew it was just the cyclops messing with him. But that didn't stop the pounding in his chest.

"It's no use. Please, Ethan. Can't I just eat her now!" The cyclops moaned. Jason peaked out from behind the wall again, and he felt his heart drop again.

The cyclops had moved out of the way, and he could see Reyna tangled in a celestial bronze net dangling from the ceiling. She wasn't moving, and for a moment Jason was afraid she was already dead.

The cyclops waddled over to her and poked at her arm through the net, and Reyna let out a yelp of pain. So, she wasn't dead. That was good. But as Jason looked closer, he could see that her arm was bent at an awkward angle. She tried shifting her weight to cradle her arm, but the net didn't allow for her to move easily, and she gasped in pain as the net jostled against her broken arm.

Jason had to think of a plan. She wouldn't be able to fight easily with her arm broken, so he had to try to figure out a plan to lure the cyclops and the boy away from Reyna, free her, and escape without being killed by the cyclops or arrested by the mortal police. No problem.

He wracked his brain trying to think. If he could at least get the cyclops to leave he could probably take the boy out easily. But how could he lure the cyclops away? The cyclops reached up and untied the net from the ceiling, and Reyna crashed to the floor, letting out a cry of pain as she landed on the ground. The cyclops and the demigod still had their backs to Jason. He had an idea. It wasn't a great idea, but they didn't really have a lot of options. He just had to hope that Reyna would get his message.

He stuck his sword out from behind the wall and concentrated on making it spark, just enough to catch Reyna's attention without alerting her captors. He peaked out and caught her eye. She gave him a subtle nod, as if understanding his plan, but she also looked ready to pass out from the pain. Jason _had_ to keep the fight away from her.

"You'll never catch him," Reyna said. "You might as well let him eat me now."

The cyclops laughed and turned to the teenager, Ethan, "Aha! Even the girl wants me to eat her! The boy won't come, and I'm hungry."

"No! He will come!" Ethan shouted. Jason flipped IVLIVS so it became a large spear. He snuck out from his hiding spot, creeping up on the cyclops. If Reyna could keep them distracted long enough, he should be able to take out the cyclops from behind. Ethan started to turn toward Jason, but Reyna quickly spoke again, keeping Ethan's attention on her.

"If I could make a request," Reyna grunted as she tried to sit up, "I think I would taste best in a curry."

The cyclops scratched his head, "Curry? Curry is spicy." He looked at Ethan, "I don't like spicy."

"It doesn't matter!" Ethan snapped, "You do not have my permission to eat her yet! We're still waiting for the boy."

"I guess you could cook me with a mild curry," Reyna said. "But there's no fun in that."

The cyclops thought, "Maybe I could try a spicy curry."

"You will not eat her!"

The cyclops turned to his associate angrily, "She said it herself, the boy will not come!"

Reyna frowned, "I never said that."

Jason took his cue and charged at the cyclops, stabbing the monster in the back. The cyclops screamed in rage, but Jason summoned a lightning blast through his spear, and the cyclops disintegrated into dust. But Jason barely had time to recover before Ethan came at him with his sword.

Jason deflected the other boy with his spear, but he knew his sword would be better for close combat, but he needed a minute to flip the coin. Unfortunately, Ethan wasn't giving him a minute. The boy slashed and stabbed at Jason, and it took all of his focus to keep from being shish-kabobbed. He considered summoning another blast of lightning, but he didn't think he had the energy to do it. The first lightning bolt had zapped his energy (no pun intended). Even if he could summon another lightning bolt, the exertion would probably knock him unconscious.

Somehow during the fray, Reyna had untangled herself from the net and grabbed her dagger. She launched herself at Ethan, despite her broken arm, giving Jason enough time to change his spear into a sword. He charged at the other boy, and Ethan's confidence seemed to crumble as he scrambled to defend himself from Reyna's dagger and Jason's sword. Ethan seemed to realize that even with Reyna's broken arm, he was outnumbered. In desperation, he kicked out, his boot connecting with Reyna's broken arm and she crumpled to the ground, giving him an opening to flee.

Part of Jason wanted to chase after him, but he couldn't leave Reyna. He rushed over to help her. She had managed to sit up, but her face was ashy, and her breath was coming out in shallow gasps as she started to go into shock from the pain. Jason could faintly hear an alarm going off somewhere in the airport, and he knew he had to get them out of there.

"Reyna, you need to breathe," Jason said trying to stay calm as he quickly searched through his backpack for some ambrosia. They had probably less than five minutes before they were discovered by the mortals.

He finally found the ambrosia square and gave piece to Reyna, but she refused it. "You need to set the bone first," she said. She was trying to even her breathing, but Jason could tell she was still panicking. He cursed under his breath, he should have remembered that from his first aid training class at camp.

"Okay, well we need to go somewhere else first because we cannot get caught here," Jason said.

"I can stand," Reyna said. Jason helped her to her feet, but her face turned an unnaturally gray color like she was about to pass out. He put his arm around her good side to steady her, and she slung her good arm around his shoulders for support.

"Please don't pass out on me," Jason said as he led them out of the abandoned wing of the airport.

"It would be payback." Reyna mumbled, and if Jason wasn't so worried he probably would have laughed. At least she was still making jokes. That was good.

Jason checked to make sure it was clear before leading them out of the wing. He tried to act as casual as possible and was grateful everyone seemed to be in too much of a hurry to notice them. He spotted a family bathroom and grimaced. It wasn't the cleanest option, but it would allow him to set her bone without drawing too much attention. He looked around to make sure no one was watching before he dragged her into the bathroom and locked the door.

Jason closed the lid to the toilet and helped Reyna sit down, placing his backpack in the sink next to them. Reyna's face was still gray and clammy, and she was trembling all over.

"Okay, this is going to probably hurt a lot," Jason warned her. "Please don't scream."

Reyna nodded, a determined look in her eyes, and she squeezed Jason's shoulder with her good hand. Jason took a deep breath and prepared to set the bone, "Okay," he said. "One, two—"

He forced the bone into place, and Reyna gasped in pain. Her fingernails dug into Jason's arm so hard, he was certain she was going to leave little crescent marks in his skin. She dropped her head to his shoulder, and he could feel her ragged breaths through his shirt.

"Reyna, breathe," he said evenly. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to regain control of her breathing, and after a moment she calmed down enough to sit up. He gave her a piece of ambrosia before he pulled out a roll of medical tape and began wrapping her arm. It would be better if he had a splint, but it would have to do for now.

As Reyna ate the ambrosia, the color started returning to her face. She still looked like she might be sick, but she at least didn't look like she was going to pass out. He let her sit for a moment as he finished wrapping her arm.

"You're bleeding," she said after a moment. "On your arm." She sounded unsteady, but stronger than she had earlier.

Jason looked at his arm, and sure enough there was a thin line of blood from a cut he hadn't even realized he'd gotten. He nibbled on a piece of ambrosia and felt the cut seal itself closed. Reyna was watching him, but Jason couldn't read the expression on her face.

"Well, we should probably try to figure out how we're going to get to Denver," Jason said, standing up. "I'm pretty sure we missed out flight."

Reyna was still staring at him, and Jason was concerned that maybe she wasn't as okay as he thought. He was about to ask her when she finally spoke.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "You know, for not letting that cyclops eat me."

Jason smiled and squeezed her shoulder, "Like you said, we're even now. You keep me from being dragon food, I keep you from being cyclops curry. We make a good team."

Reyna gave him the smallest hint of a smile. It wasn't much, but he could tell she was feeling better. He helped her to her feet, and they snuck out of the bathroom and headed toward ground transportation.

There was a train that could take them from the airport to downtown Albuquerque, so they quickly paid for their tickets and sat down on the next train to the city.

"What I want to know is where all these homicidal demigods are coming from," Jason said. "I've never seen them back at camp, but I'm really getting sick of them trying to kill us."

"You've never seen that one before either?" Reyna asked.

Jason shook his head, "No, he and Luke were never trained at Camp Jupiter. But that doesn't make any sense to me. I thought all demigods were trained by Lupa and then sent to camp."

"My sister didn't," Reyna said, wincing as she tried testing her wrist. "She joined the Amazons."

"Yeah but joining the Amazons and working with monsters and titans are pretty different career paths," Jason said.

"My sister resents our mother," Reyna said. "She wouldn't have gone to Camp Jupiter even if it wasn't for the Amazons. I don't know about that Luke guy, but before you came, the demigod at the airport definitely didn't have anything nice to say about his mother."

They were quiet for a moment, and Jason watched out the window as the New Mexico desert sped by. He thought about his own father. Sure, Jupiter had given him some of his powers, but he'd still never met his father. Jupiter hadn't even technically ever claimed him. He could never imagine siding with monsters and fighting against Rome, but would he have felt differently if he hadn't grown up there?

He looked at Reyna and wondered if she had doubts about Camp Jupiter like her sister. "Do you ever resent Bellona?" Jason asked.

Reyna's onyx eyes flicked to meet his blue ones. As always, her expression was unreadable. She held his gaze, like she was challenging him to look away.

"Sometimes," she said finally. The honesty in her voice scared him. "Do you ever resent your father?"

Jason looked away. Her stare made him feel too vulnerable. He watched as red dirt and cactuses passed them by. He could see the city approaching. "I don't know," he admitted. "Maybe."

If Reyna was judging his answer, she didn't show it. She just nodded understandingly. "Come on," she said. "This is our stop. We still need to figure out how to get to Colorado."


	10. Chapter 10

**Oof, I didn't realize how short this chapter was... Whoops. It's a little bit of a filler chapter, but that's okay. Everyone needs a filler chapter once and a while. I should have the next chapter posted hopefully within the week, but it depends on how busy I'll be (probably very busy). The next two chapters are longer and there's more action, so that's something to look forward to. As always, reviews are my favorite thing ever.**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **X.**

They arrived in downtown Albuquerque and decided they would stop for dinner as they planned their next leg of the journey. Somehow, they had to figure out how they were going to reach Colorado Springs. They were already almost two days into their quest, and they still hadn't reached the starting point of their quest. Jason swore if they made it back to camp he would smack Octavian silly for all the trouble his plan had caused them.

They were looking for a restaurant, when the most wonderful smell Jason could imagine stopped him in his tracks. He'd had good Mexican food at camp, but the smell of fresh cilantro, fried pork, lime, and chili powder that was coming from the little hole-in-the-wall restaurant made him salivate.

Jason turned to Reyna. "Any objections?" he asked, not wanting a repeat of the Mormolyce incident.

"Let's go," she agreed. Even though it was only early in the evening, the restaurant was still bustling with people.

They made their way to the counter to order, and the cashier gave Reyna a soft smile, and started speaking to her in rapid-fire Spanish, which Reyna returned with ease. Jason didn't know why it surprised him so much that Reyna spoke Spanish, but for some reason it did. As Jason watched her speak with the woman at the counter, he realized that she seemed so much more relaxed speaking in Spanish than she did in English. It was like she had learned her militarism in English. It didn't carry over when she spoke Spanish.

Reyna payed for their food and the woman handed her a plastic number so they could wait for their food. "Let's sit," she said to him.

Reyna drummed her fingers along to a song that played over the restaurant speakers, and she had a soft smile on her lips. Jason didn't know her that well, but he felt like he was looking at a completely different Reyna.

"I didn't know you spoke Spanish," Jason said.

Reyna furrowed her brows, "I'm from Puerto Rico," she said. "Of course I speak Spanish."

"I didn't know you were from Puerto Rico," Jason admitted.

Reyna nodded wistfully. "I grew up in San Juan. But I haven't been back there since I was nine. Hylla and I left right after our dad died."

"Where did you go after that?" Jason asked.

Before Reyna could answer, one of the restaurant workers brought over their food, and the question was left forgotten. Jason's mouth watered at the sight of the food. If it smelled this good, he could only imagine how good it tasted.

They inhaled their food in silence, both of them hungry from their journey. As they began slowing down, Jason thought about their journey ahead. "Okay, so how are we going to get to Colorado? I'm thinking flying is out of the question."

"Agreed," Reyna said, wiping her fingers off on the paper napkins. "Maybe bus?"

Jason shook his head. "No, it'll take forever going through the mountains."

Reyna thought for a moment, when something seemed to catch her eye. Jason turned and watched as the staff greeted a Latino man probably in his late forties as he walked into the restaurant and up to the counter. He chatted with the restaurant staff casually, and judging by how the staff spoke with him, Jason could assume the guy was a regular.

Reyna's eyes lit up as she listened to the man. "Wait here," she said to Jason. She got up and walked over to the man and began chatting with him in Spanish. They chatted for a few minutes and Jason saw her point in his direction. Jason couldn't understand what they were saying, but the man said something that left Reyna flustered; her cheeks flush, and she shook her head quickly. They spoke for a few more minutes and seemed to come to some agreement. Reyna walked back over.

"What was that all about?" Jason asked as she sat back down.

"I got us a ride to Colorado," Reyna replied casually. "You're welcome."

Jason couldn't help it, his jaw dropped. "Wait, what? You convinced him to give us a ride to Colorado?"

Reyna nodded. "The staff were asking him about it when he walked in. I told him we were trying to get to Colorado and he agreed to give us a ride."

"Just like that?" Jason asked. "That feels too easy."

"He asked if we were runaways," Reyna said. "I told him that we were foster siblings and we're running away from our crazy foster mom. I told him you have a cousin in Colorado who's going to take us in."

"And he believed you?" Jason asked incredulously.

Reyna shrugged. "He didn't ask any more questions. I told him we would pay for gas, so that seemed to help."

"What else did he say to you?" Jason asked.

Reyna frowned, "Nothing. That's it."

"Then why did your face turn all red while you were talking to him?" Jason asked.

A pink tinge returned to Reyna's cheeks and she scowled at him. "Nothing. It's not important."

Jason cracked a grin. "Are you sure? Because your face is turning red again."

She glared at him. "Shut up, Grace."

Jason didn't know why it was so amusing to see her get flustered; maybe because she was so serious and acted so aloof all the time. It was so unlike her to act embarrassed. But he figured it would be safer for him to drop the subject.

When the man finished eating he walked over to their table. He eyed Jason nervously, and then turned to Reyna and spoke to her in Spanish.

Reyna turned to translate for Jason. "He said that if we go with him, we're not allowed to talk to anybody. He doesn't want to get in trouble with the police for helping us to run away."

Jason looked at the man and nodded in agreement. "Okay."

The man didn't look quite thrilled to be transporting to minors across state lines, but he led them to his pickup truck. It was an old truck, with a bench seat in the front. Reyna sat in the middle and Jason sat by the window as they began their trip to Colorado.

Jason listened as the man chatted with Reyna in Spanish. He tried to pick up on what they were saying. He had heard that Spanish was a Latin-based language, so he figured since he knew Latin, maybe he could understand some of what they were saying, but he quickly realized that wasn't the case. He could catch very simple things. He heard her introduce their names, and he heard her say something about Puerto Rico, but other than that he couldn't understand much.

Occasionally Reyna would turn and translate for him, but for the most part, he was left out of the conversation. It was interesting listening to Reyna speak Spanish with this stranger though. She spoke more animatedly, and Jason was pretty sure she spoke more with the man than he had heard her speak her entire time at camp. Not for the first time, he realized just how little he knew about her.

The man turned on the radio, and an older-sounding Spanish ballad began playing over the radio. Reyna smiled, but her eyes looked distant and sad. "I haven't heard this song in years," she murmured.

"In Puerto Rico?" Jason asked.

She nodded wistfully. "Sometimes when our dad would get really bad, the owners of this little café by the beach would let Hylla and I would spend the night there. During the day they would play pop music for the tourists. But at night when they were closing, they would play these old ballads. Sometimes the owner would even sing along, or he would show Hylla how to dance."

"They sound like good people," Jason said quietly.

Reyna agreed silently, "They always tried to help us when they could. They'd always try to make me laugh."

They rode in silence, allowing the melody from the guitars to wash over them.

* * *

By some sort of divine miracle, they made it to Colorado without running into any monsters. It was already dark, but Reyna told their driver that they would meet Jason's cousin at the Garden of the Gods visitor center. The man seemed a little suspicious about leaving two children at an empty park visitor center at night, but he reluctantly dropped them off at the parking lot. They paid the man and thanked him for the ride. Finally, they could start their quest.

They made their way down the steep hill and across the street as they walked to the park entrance. "Why do I have a bad feeling we just used up our supply of good luck for the rest of this quest?" Jason asked as they crept through the empty parking lot.

"Oh definitely," Reyna agreed. She stared up at the huge rocks. Even in the dark they were impressive; rising out of the ground as tall as buildings. The desert air was cold, but the stars shined in the sky brighter than anything Jason had ever seen before.

"This park is huge," Reyna said. "How are we going to know where to look?"

Jason pulled out the map he had picked up at the park entrance. Flipping IVLIVS, he was able to use the faint glow from his sword to scan it for any clues. "Well, there's a rock formation called the 'sleeping giant,' so I have a very bad feeling that's going to be our starting point."

Reyna grimaced, "You don't think there'll be actual giants, do you?"

Jason sighed, "I really, _really_ hope not, which means there probably will be. You ready to start this thing?"

"Only two days later," Reyna said. "Let's do this."


	11. Chapter 11

**Update, woooo! So, one of the benefits of studying a foreign language (or multiple) is that you can usually find your favorite popular books in your target language for free online. I didn't bring my original PJO books with me to China, so I've been re-reading them in Russian and now Spanish. So I get language practice and get to re-read my favorite series for free. It's really a win-win situation. Study foreign languages, kids. Anyway, I hope you guys like this update. You'll get a little more of an idea where this quest is heading in this chapter. As always, reviews are my favorite thing in the world (other than free books in my target language). You guys are swell.**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **XI.**

They walked in silence through the dark, keeping their eyes and ears pealed for any monsters that might be lurking in the dark. Reyna couldn't help the sinking feeling that something was watching them. She kept reaching for her dagger, checking to make sure it was there. Suddenly a loud shrieking sound in the distance made her jump.

Jason was watching her with a slight smirk on his lips, "It was just a coyote. No need to be scared."

Reyna scowled at him, "I'm not scared."

Jason's grin grew wider, "Uh-huh. _Sure._ "

Reyna felt a flash of anger at him, "Jason Grace, I swear to the gods, if you—"

"Relax, Rey I'm just messing with you."

Reyna was quiet, replaying over his words. "Rey?" she asked after a moment.

Jason actually laughed, "It's a nickname."

"I don't like it." Reyna grumbled.

"You called me Sparkles earlier," Jason pointed out. "As far as nicknames go, I'd say Rey is pretty mild."

Reyna was about to respond when she heard what sounded like voices in the distance. Definitely not coyotes. "Be quiet," she said to Jason.

Jason rolled his eyes, "If you really don't want me to call you Rey, I won't, but I think—"

"No, Jason, be quiet," She said. "I think I hear something."

He quickly grew serious, as he listened for the voices. "What do you think? Probably monsters?" he whispered.

"Most likely," Reyna said.

They were quiet as they listened, the voices seemed to be getting louder.

"Quick, in there," Jason hissed. He pushed her toward a crevice between two of the rocks just out of view of the path. Before Reyna could protest, she could hear the monsters walking down the path they had been on just moments before.

She couldn't tell how many monsters were out there, but the crevice was a dead end. If they were discovered… Reyna didn't want to think about it. The crevice was only wide enough for one person, so she was trapped between the rock wall and Jason. It would be impossible to fight their way out of there.

A raspy female voice was speaking. "One of these days, I'll—" she paused. "Do you smell that?"

Another monster with a deep gravelly voice answered her. "Smells like demigods."

Jason crowded closer to her trying to put as much distance between himself and the monsters. He didn't look scared, but he was so close, she could feel his heart racing. She hoped the monsters couldn't hear it.

She could hear the crunch of gravel as the monster came closer to their hiding spot, and her own heart began racing. She tried to back up further, but there was nowhere else to go. Jason had his eyes closed and was silently mouthing something, maybe a prayer to the gods. She momentarily wondered if she should do the same.

The monster was almost at the crevice, when a third voice spoke. "I don't smell anything. If there were demigods here, we would have found them. Come on, let's head back to camp."

The silence that followed was almost unbearable. Reyna could feel Jason's rapid breaths near her face, and she was sure her own breathing was just as quick. She thought for sure the monsters were going to find them. Finally, the first voice responded. "Fine. Let's go." It came from so close to their hiding spot that Reyna almost jumped. She could feel Jason flinch. He hadn't realized how close the monster was either.

The sound of footsteps grew further away, but neither one of them dared to move until they were certain the monsters were out of sight. It felt like an eternity that they stayed hidden in the crevice of the rock. She felt Jason relax, and her own heart beat began to return to normal. He backed out of the crevice and she followed him. The night air felt colder than before.

"Gods, that was close," Jason said, his voice unsteady sounding.

Reyna nodded in agreement, not trusting her own voice. She wasn't sure why, but her face felt hot. Probably from the adrenaline, she told herself.

"We should probably follow them," she said once her voice returned. "They'll probably lead us to our next clue."

Jason let out a shaky breath. "You're probably right. But we should try to get higher ground. I feel like its too easy to get trapped between the rocks." He pointed to a long rock wall that followed the path. "We could climb up there and follow them. Then at least we can keep some distance between us."

"And run the risk of falling to our deaths off of a cliff," Reyna pointed out.

Jason gave her a dry smile, "That's the spirit. Come on, let's go before we run into another monster party"

As they climbed the rock face, Reyna was jealous of how easily Jason scaled the rock. He had a confidence like he wasn't afraid of falling to his death. Reyna couldn't say she felt the same way.

She had never been afraid of heights per se but climbing a rock wall straight up at night with no harness wasn't a comforting feeling. But eventually they made it to the ledge of the rock face.

"Slowpoke," Jason joked.

"Are you sure you're not part faun?" she asked.

He smirked, "Come on, I thought I saw something moving down that way."

They began their trek after the monsters, but they moved slowly, careful not to fall off the ledge. Jason walked in front, testing the safest path to take. Reyna didn't understand how he could be so comfortable climbing along the ledges. She had never been scared of heights, however even she had a healthy fear of falling from the ledge. But the idea of falling didn't seem to bother him at all.

They reached a crevice in the rock that stretched almost six feet across, and Jason leaped across like it was nothing. He didn't even seem to consider the fact that the drop could easily kill him. He continued walking, lost in his own little world. Reyna scowled at him. "Are you serious?"

He turned, confused at first as to why she sounded so annoyed. Then he saw her on the other side of the crevice glaring at him with her hands on her hips and he cracked a grin. "You're not scared of heights, are you?"

"No," Reyna said. "But I do have a sense of self-preservation, which you seem to lack."

He grinned cheekily. "It's not that far of a jump. I won't let you fall."

Reyna scowled, but prepared to jump. "You're a menace."

She took a few steps of a running start and jumped as far as she could. Her foot touched the other ledge, but she would have plummeted to her death if Jason hadn't grabbed her wrists and pulled her safely to the other side.

She glared at him. "I hate you."

"I think the words you're looking for are 'Thank you, Jason. You're the best,'" he said doing a cartoonish impersonation of her voice.

Reyna rolled her eyes at him. "Menace," she grumbled.

He laughed, and Reyna couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips. "Come on," he said flipping his coin into a sword. "I think I heard something around this bend."

They crept along silently, but when they finally rounded the bend in the rock, Reyna's heart felt like it dropped in her chest. On the ground below them, an army of monsters had gathered and established some sort of camp.

There were more monsters than she had ever seen in her life; hellhounds, harpies, manticores, laestrygonian giants, cyclops, and even some monsters she had never seen before. Jason appeared to be just as shocked as she was. His mouth hung open and his eyes were so wide it looked like his eyeballs would pop out of his head. His sword hung limply at his side.

The sound of voices approaching jolted them out of their stupor, and they quickly ducked behind a rock face. They watched as a mangy dog-looking creature the size of a lion came into view. The monster was flanked by two laestrygonian giants. The monsters walked along the path Reyna and Jason had been on just moments ago. The giants seemed to be in a heated argument with the lion-dog.

"Our army grows more restless every day, Crocca," said one of the giants. "They are hungry for the flesh of demigods. We are strong. Why should we wait?"

"Hyperion has not risen yet!" The dog, Crocca spoke with the same raspy voice they had heard earlier. Reyna felt a chill run down her spine despite the summer heat. Crocca continued to speak. "Let your men grow hungry. In a week's time, Hyperion will rise, and he will lead us on a glorious battle against Rome. Your men will feast on the flesh of hundreds of demigods and their children." Reyna felt Jason stiffen beside her.

"Our men could overrun the camp with or without the fallen titan. Why should we wait?" The other giant growled.

"Do you want a temporary victory, or a victory that will last longer than the gods?" Crocca asked. "If Hyperion leads our victory against the demigods and their civilization, we will have a clear path to raise the throne of Kronos. Once Kronos is risen, the era of gods will come to an end. The era of heroes will come to an end, and your men will never feel hunger again."

"What of Hyperion's ally?" The first giant asked. "Is she sending us her arsenal? A fight against the demigod camp will surely not be a lengthy one if we can use their own Imperial Gold against them."

"The weapons were lost last year when Blackbeard and his pirates sacked the island," Crocca said. Reyna felt her blood go cold. She could feel Jason's eyes on her, but she didn't meet his eyes. The dog continued to speak. "The weapons are lost to us, but they are also lost to the demigods. They will have to fight us without their precious gold."

Jason nudged her arm and motioned for her to climb the rock behind her. They had heard all that they needed to. Now they had to get out before they were spotted by the monsters. They climbed higher up the rock face, careful to be as quiet as possible. They stopped once they were out of earshot of the monster camp.

"We've got to warn Lee and Aurelia," Jason said. "They've got to get the camp ready for battle."

"There were a lot of them," Reyna said. "And if they have a titan leading them—"

"That's probably what the prophecy meant: 'darkness will fall as the light wakes.' Hyperion is the titan of light," Jason said. "And reclaim 'that which is right,' Octavian was correct, it is referring to a birthright. We have to reclaim the Imperial Gold weapons that were lost in the Sea of Monsters—"

"Jason, look I don't want to disappoint you, but those weapons are lost. You heard the monsters, only Blackbeard knows where to find them—" Reyna began, but Jason cut her off again.

"But you were with Blackbeard less than a year ago!" Jason said. "You must have some idea where he's keeping the weapons. Or at least some idea where to find him."

Reyna felt her chest constrict with panic, "No! Jason, Blackbeard is dangerous. We can't go looking for him. I can't—"

Jason narrowed his eyes, and Reyna could feel the static in the air with his anger. "Camp Jupiter is in trouble!" He said. "We know what we have to do to save it; you have to lead us to Blackbeard. That must be why Bellona chose you for this quest. She knows you can lead us there."

Reyna felt as though the ground had been yanked out from under her feet… again. She had foolishly assumed that when she and Hylla had escaped Blackbeard's ship, she would never have to worry about the pirate again. But Jason was right. Bellona had only claimed her so that she could lead them back to Blackbeard. She wanted to cry at the unfairness of it all.

"Camp Jupiter is your home," Jason continued. "You can't turn your back on it."

Reyna felt anger replace her fear. "Camp Jupiter is _your_ home," she spat. "Not mine. I don't have a home, and the closest thing I ever had to a home, Blackbeard destroyed."

"You're a Roman and Camp Jupiter is the home to all Romans," Jason said, his expression softening a bit. "Please, Reyna. We have to save it."

Reyna heard Mars's warning filter through her thoughts, _if you can't figure out how to keep a level head, this quest is going to fail, and you're going to lose everything_. She hated this. But Jason was right, finding those weapons was the only chance they had at saving the camp. If they didn't, a lot of people were going to die. She stared at Jason and could see the desperation in his eyes. He was scared.

"Fine," she said quietly. "I'll lead us to Blackbeard."

Relief flashed in Jason's eyes, and he opened his mouth to thank her, but a raspy voice cut him off.

"Well, well, well…"

They turned and saw the dog creature, Crocca watching them with a wicked grin on its face. It licked its massive incisors as it eyed them hungrily, "I thought I smelled some demigods earlier."


	12. Chapter 12

**Hope you all had a good weekend. I caught the flu yesterday and almost passed out on my metro ride back home, but I'm feeling better now, and somehow today I managed to finish a new chapter. I hope you all enjoy the update. As always, I really, really, really ,really, really, really, really, really love reviews. Let me know what you think.**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **XII.**

Reyna slipped her dagger out of its sheath and Jason raised his sword, squaring up against the monster. Up close, Reyna could see that the monster looked more like a hyena than a dog. It had the same feral expression and mangey spotted coat. But its body wasn't like a hyena at all, it more closely resembled a stag; long, lithe, and fast. The monster had a long, fresh scar along its face, and one of its eyes was clearly blinded by whatever had caused the scar. Somehow it made the monster look more intimidating.

Crocca grinned wickedly, "You children shouldn't be here after dark. There are lots of dangerous monsters out here who would love to have two demigods for dinner."

"Actually, we were just about to leave," Jason said. They started to back away from the monster, but realized they were at the ledge of the cliff. They were trapped.

The monster licked her lips hungrily, "I don't think so." She looked at Reyna and her face twisted into one of rage.

"You!" She screamed, "Thought you'd come back here and finish the job, huh?"

Reyna frowned, "What are you talking about?"

Crocca narrowed her eyes at Reyna, and then spoke in a voice that wasn't her own, " _Next time you come back, I won't be so merciful._ "

Reyna's eyes widened in shock. She recognized the voice. She hadn't heard it in almost two months, but she would know that voice anywhere; Hylla.

"You saw my sister?" Reyna blurted out without thinking.

The monster grinned again, showing off her horrible incisors, "Your sister, huh?" Reyna instantly regretted mentioning Hylla, especially since the monster didn't seem particularly fond of her sister. Crocca took a step closer to Reyna, and Reyna tried to take a step back, but realized there was nowhere else for her to go, unless she wanted to jump off the cliff face.

Jason grabbed her hand. "Do you trust me?" he whispered to her.

"What?" Reyna asked.

"Well, I wanted to _thank_ your sister for the lovely scar she gave me, but maybe I'll just thank you on her behalf," the monster growled, crouching down, preparing to pounce.

"Do you trust me? Yes or no? Yes or no?" Jason asked, frantically tugging on her hand.

"Yes," Reyna answered quickly.

The monster launched itself at them, but before Reyna could even process what had happened, Jason had yanked them both backward off the cliff. Reyna felt her breath leave her lungs as they plummeted toward the ground. She figured they probably had five seconds before they splattered on the pavement. Jason was still firmly holding her hand, but then, like magic, they began to slow their descent. Then they stopped falling altogether, and instead they started rising. It felt like they were being lifted on a cushion of wind.

Jason's forehead was beaded in sweat from concentration, but he had a wide grin on his face. The sight made Reyna think of Peter Pan. Even she couldn't help but grin. They were actually flying. The wind was warm and blew around her face. She could see the dark outline of the park below her. Slowly they began to descend again, before landing gently at the park entrance gate.

Jason gave her the biggest grin she had ever seen, and Reyna couldn't help the little flutter she felt in her chest. She tried to clamp down on the feeling, but she couldn't help but return his grin.

"How was that for a superhero exit?" Jason laughed, "Bet that made that monster mad."

"Because she wasn't already mad before," Reyna laughed. "I didn't know you could actually fly."

Jason grinned, "Yeah I didn't either until about five minutes ago."

Reyna blinked in surprise, "You didn't know you could fly when you threw us off the cliff?"

He scratched the back of his head and gave her a sheepish smile, "I had a hunch. When we were climbing the rocks. But I'd never tried before," he looked down at his shoes. "Thanks for trusting me though."

Reyna was speechless. She didn't know whether she should be angry or grateful or if she should just laugh. She punched him in the arm instead.

"Ow," Jason groaned, rubbing his arm. "Glad to see your wrist is feeling better."

"You're an idiot," Reyna deadpanned, and Jason grinned.

"But I'm an idiot who can fly, so that's got to count for something." He said, slinging his arm around her shoulders.

She rolled her eyes at him and tried to bite back the smile that tugged at the corners of her lips. She shrugged his arm off of her shoulder, "We should probably find a place to rest tonight."

Jason nodded his head in agreement, growing serious, "You're right. Tomorrow I'll give camp a call and warn Lee and Aurelia about the monsters and tell them that we're going to find the Imperial Gold weapons."

Reyna felt her heart constrict with unwanted panic. She had momentarily forgotten about their new quest to find Blackbeard. She tried to get her emotions in check, tried schooling her expression to clamp down on the fear she felt.

"If we want to find Blackbeard, we'll have to head Southeast," Reyna said. "Our starting point will be in the Atlantic Ocean, in the Sea of Monsters."

Jason nodded grimly. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Thank you for helping me."

"Don't thank me yet," Reyna said. "We've got a long way to go. And the Sea of Monsters is dangerous. If we live through that, then we'll still have to find and deal with Blackbeard and his pirates." She tried to suppress the shiver that ran down her spine thinking about the pirates.

Reyna could feel Jason's eyes on her, but she didn't meet his gaze. "We're going to get through this," Jason said quietly. "We're going to save the camp, and then I'm going to show you that camp can be your home too."

Reyna wanted to believe him, but she had so many doubts. They had to first survive the quest. They'd have to make it through the Sea of Monsters. She would have to face Blackbeard again. If they survived Blackbeard, then they would have to make it back to Camp Jupiter on the other side of the country before Hyperion rose. Then they would have to defeat an army of monsters. And even if they miraculously were successful on the quest, she doubted Camp Jupiter could ever become her home. Even if it did, how long would it last before that too came crumbling down around her? But she didn't voice her doubts to Jason. He already knew that this quest was going to be difficult. She didn't need to remind him.

"When we were flying, I think I saw a campsite not too far from here," Jason said. "Maybe we can find one with a public shower and then camp out there for the night."

"Good idea. You're starting to smell," Reyna deadpanned, grateful for the change of subject.

Jason rolled his eyes, but he had a small grin on his face, "You're _hilarious_."

"Oh, I was being serious," Reyna said. She managed to keep a straight face for maybe ten seconds, but she broke and grinned at Jason's offended expression.

"You're a bully," Jason pouted, before taking her hand again.

Reyna yanked her hand out of his, "What are you doing?" she asked.

Jason scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "I figured it would be quicker to fly there."

"Oh," Reyna said, feeling dumb. She was glad it was dark, so Jason wouldn't see the blush that started to creep up her cheeks. She didn't know what was wrong with her. Ever since the man in Albuquerque had asked her if Jason was her boyfriend, she'd started feeling more flustered around him. It was getting annoying.

Jason cleared his throat, "Uh, so any objections to me holding your hand so I can fly us to the campsite?"

Reyna scowled at him and grabbed his hand, ignoring the awkward grin he tried to suppress. "Let's go then, Sparkles."

Jason tried not to smile, " _Bully._ "

* * *

They managed to land in a forest not far from a campsite and were able to take a shower at the campsite's public bathhouse. It was almost eleven o'clock at night. Jason finished first and waiting outside the building for Reyna to finish. As he waited, he couldn't help but think about their quest. He would never admit it, but he had been terrified Reyna would refuse to help him find Blackbeard.

He felt bad asking her to lead them to Blackbeard, but he also knew finding those weapons were Camp Jupiter's only chance against the army of monsters. Still, part of him was worried about meeting the pirate. Reyna didn't seem like one to scare easily, yet when he asked her to lead them to Blackbeard, she hadn't even tried to hide her fear. He didn't really want to meet anyone who scared Reyna.

Part of him wanted to ask Reyna about the pirate; he wanted to know what to expect when they finally found him. But the other part of him worried that if he tried to pry too much, Reyna would just shut him out. She wasn't exactly very open about her past, and they were starting to form a tentative friendship. He didn't know if he wanted to risk ruining their friendship over his curiosity.

A few minutes later, Reyna emerged from the bathhouse. Her long dark hair was still damp and hung loosely at her shoulders instead of pulled back in her usual braid. Even though it was July, the night air was chilly. Reyna shivered as she pulled her sweatshirt out from her backpack.

"There's a clearing in the woods over there," Jason said, holding the backpack as she slipped the sweatshirt over her head. "We can rest there for tonight."

Reyna nodded wordlessly and took the backpack back from him. They walked through the woods until they found the clearing. Jason thought about his bunk bed back in the Fifth Cohort. He had always complained about how hard the mattress was, but as they set up their makeshift camp on the ground, he realized he would give anything to be able to sleep in his bed at camp.

"I'll keep first watch," Reyna said.

"Are you sure?" Jason asked. "You haven't slept a lot."

"I'm not really tired," Reyna said. Her tone was guarded like she was hiding something. He knew she had to be exhausted, but he didn't want to push her. Besides, Jason was exhausted. It had been a _long_ day.

"Okay, suit yourself," Jason said. "Wake me up in a few hours."

He laid his head down on his backpack and almost instantly fell asleep. He was so used to not having dreams, that he almost shocked himself awake when he found himself back at Garden of the Gods with Crocca.

The monster was pacing angrily, her two laestrygonian giant friends watched her nervously. "Those damn demigods are going to try to retrieve those weapons. They're going to try to stop our uprising," she growled. "That girl will probably even have her sister get those blasted Amazons involved."

"What if you killed the sister?" One of the giants suggested. "Then they won't go to the Amazons for help." Jason felt his blood run cold. He didn't know much about Reyna's sister, but he was fairly certain Reyna wouldn't appreciate that plan.

Crocca's face lit up dangerously, and she grinned revealing her set of razor-sharp teeth. "I have a better idea," she said. "We'll use the Amazon as bait. They won't be able to save their precious camp if they're too busy saving her sister. Then we can kill all three of them." The monsters laughed, and Jason felt a shiver run down his spine. He had to warn Reyna.

Suddenly a different voice filtered through his dream. "You'll not speak of what you just saw to Reyna."

The scene changed, and Jason found himself in a throne room that was empty other than a woman wearing traditional Roman armor standing in front of him. The woman had long dark hair braided over her shoulder and black calculating eyes. He had gotten used to Reyna's scary glares during their time on the quest but seeing the same cold look in her mother's eyes unsettled him.

"You're Bellona," Jason said. "Reyna's mother."

She nodded curtly. "I am." Her calculating stare made Jason want to squirm. He felt like she was judging him for everything bad that had happened to them on the quest. Maybe she was.

"And as her mother, I'm telling you, Jupiter's son, that you will not speak of what you just saw to my daughter."

Jason frowned. "You don't want me to tell Reyna that the only family she has left is in trouble?" Jason asked incredulously.

Bellona pursed her lips like she was looking at something unpleasant. "Yes. You will not mention your dream to her. Reyna is rash, and I fear if she knows her sister's life is at stake, she will distract your quest."

Jason felt anger well in his chest at the goddess, "Hylla is your daughter too! You would just let those monsters kill her?"

"My loyalties are to Rome," Bellona said coldly. "Hylla abandoned Rome long ago. If Reyna knows her sister is in danger, I fear she too will turn her back on it. Reyna and this quest are too important for the future of our civilization."

"What if she finds out anyway?" Jason asked. "Then what?"

"You make sure Reyna remembers her loyalty to Rome," Bellona said. She regarded him coldly, and Jason had to repress the shiver that ran down his spine, "And remember where your own loyalties lie, Jason Grace. You are leader of this quest on behalf of Rome. That must be your first priority."

Jason found that he couldn't meet her gaze, but he found himself nodding. "Yes, ma'am," he mumbled, trying to ignore the guilt he felt in his chest.

Bellona studied him for a moment but seemed satisfied with his response. "You'll need to get to Miami, and from there to the Sea of Monsters. There is a train two miles north of your camp out that will take you east. It will leave at four in the morning. Do not miss it."

Jason nodded, and looked up to thank the goddess, but realized she was gone. He found himself drifting awake. He stretched and rubbed his eyes. Reyna was watching him with the same unreadable expression her mother had in his dream. He felt a flash of guilt when he remembered his dream. Reyna's sister was in trouble, and he had promised her mother that they wouldn't help her.

He remembered what she had told him about the train. "What time is it?" he asked Reyna.

She looked at her watch, "Three-thirty," she said.

"Shoot, we have to go!" Jason said, jumping to his feet. "Why did you let me sleep so long?"

Reyna shrugged, looking bewildered at his sudden urgency. "I wasn't tired, and you seemed like you were in the middle of a dream."

"You could have woken me," Jason said. "But come on we've got a train to catch. Hold on, I'm going to fly us there."

He didn't wait for Reyna's response, instead grabbing her hand and pulling them above the tree tops.

"What are you talking about?" Reyna asked as they soared over the campsite.

"I saw it in a dream," Jason explained. "There's a train going east, but it leaves soon."

They landed in a train yard not far from their campsite. Even though it was early, there were still workers loading up the train, preparing it for its departure.

They snuck between the train cars, careful not to be caught. "In there," Reyna said, pointing to an open car that was loaded with machine parts. They slipped inside the car unnoticed and closed the door. Then they hid among the machine parts as they waited for the train to move.

Once the train was moving, Jason pushed the door open a bit, so they could watch the prairies roll by. The sun was starting to peak out over the horizon. Reyna had been quiet for a while, and Jason knew she had to be absolutely exhausted.

"Sleep," he said. "We've got a long way to go. We're safe for now, we should both try to get some rest."

She stared at him for a minute, and Jason briefly worried that she could tell he was hiding something. But instead, she nodded before curling up against one of the machine parts and falling asleep. He leaned against another part and closed his eyes, thankful for a dream-less slumber.

He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep before a scream jolted him awake. He fumbled for his coin in his pocket, when he realized there were no monsters. Reyna's forehead was beaded with sweat and she was panting, her eyes blown wide with panic.

He tentatively approached her. "Are you okay?" he asked, crouching down next to her.

He could see her quickly trying to pull her composure together. "Sorry," she muttered. "I had a bad dream."

Jason felt like a frog was trying to crawl its way up his throat. "What was your dream about?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

Reyna bit her lip, nervous tell that Jason had never seen before. "It was about my sister, when we were with Blackbeard," she said quietly. "I've had the dream before… but then it changed. It was just her. There was a cyclops," She shuddered. "I think she might be in trouble."

"Maybe it was just a dream," Jason said, feeling instantly guilty over the lie. Jason wanted to curse Bellona and her stupid promise.

"Yeah," Reyna mumbled, but she didn't look convinced. "She's got the Amazons to look out for her. She's probably fine."

Jason felt sick to his stomach, but he tried to ignore it. _We're going to save Rome and her sister._ Jason vowed. _That's my promise_.


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry for the bit of a delay on the update. I ended up catching the flu, and then I had to go to Hong Kong, so I was a bit out of commission for a while. But I'm back with an update. I'm considering putting this story on a very temporary hiatus to write some Christmas fluff, so we'll see what I decide. I finished the Blood of Olympus, and I loved parts and hated other parts. I'm kind of salty that Jason and Reyna had absolutely no interaction during the entire series. Like I feel like Jason's a cool character but wasn't really utilized a lot after the first book... I'm salty a bit. But whatever... I hope you all are staying warm and enjoying some hot cocoa or something. I really really really love reviews, so if you like this story please review! I promise any sort of review will make my day. You guys are swell. Here's an update.**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

The train ride east was long. Occasionally Jason would fly ahead and scout out possible rest stops where they could quickly use the bathroom before flying back to their train car. The train stopped a few times to unload and change cargo. The first time that had happened, they had been asleep, and were almost seen by the railway staff. After that, they were more alert.

Reyna had packed a deck of playing cards in her backpack that entertained them for a while, but by their second morning on the train, they were both starting to go a little stir-crazy. They tried sleeping to pass the time, but Reyna kept having nightmares about Blackbeard, and ghosts, and cyclops, and Jason was too wracked with guilt to sleep. So, they sat on the edge of the car and watched the Missouri farmlands and prairies fly by.

"I don't think I've ever been this bored in my entire life," Jason groaned, flopping back on the hard floor. "How much further do you think?"

Reyna shrugged. "We're nearing St. Louis. Eventually we'll have to head South, but we still have to go east a way. Stop being dramatic."

Jason groaned again. "You can't tell me you aren't also bored out of your mind," Jason said, sitting up. "There are punishments at Camp Jupiter that are more exciting than this."

"Like doing inventory of the weapons shed?" Reyna suggested.

"Pfft, they were going easy on you with that one. The praetors can get really creative with their punishments," Jason said. "One time last year, Dakota and I had to clean the unicorn stables with a toothbrush."

"Not your own I hope," Reyna said. "What did you do that warranted that punishment?"

Jason grinned mischievously. "We were getting ready for Siege; one of the other War Games. Octavian was bragging about how the First Cohort always wins and how our forts were always trash. So, Dakota and I convinced the Fifth Cohort to build our fort out of all of the First Cohort's furniture."

"What?" Reyna said, grinning. "They must have been angry."

"Oh yeah," Jason laughed. "They were furious because they couldn't storm the fort without destroying all of their stuff," Jason said. "The best part was we stole a pair of Octavian's tighty-whities and hung them from the top like a flag."

"That's horrible," Reyna said, but she couldn't help but laugh trying to imagine Octavian's reaction.

"I'm pretty sure Octavian would have killed me if he could. He was so mad," Jason laughed. "It was pretty ingenious though. The First refused to storm the fort, so we actually won for once. And even if we had lost, the look on Octavian's face would have made it worth it."

"But you did have to clean the unicorn stables," Reyna said.

"With a toothbrush," Jason added. "Yeah, the praetors were not thrilled when they found out Dakota and I were the masterminds behind it. I think Lee may have found it a little funny, but Aurelia's from the First, so she was livid."

"If we make it back to camp, remind me to never get involved with any of your schemes," Reyna said.

Jason's face lit up. "Oh, I'm definitely involving you in my scheming. You're smart and scary, and I've got lots of great ideas. Plus, I know camp like the back of my hand. Together we'll be unstoppable!"

Reyna rolled her eyes at him but smiled none-the-less. She knew she shouldn't get her hopes up dreaming about a normal life at camp. There were a lot of what-ifs before they could make it back to camp. And even if they did manage to save the camp, she had learned long ago that nothing good was ever permanent. Still, it was a nice thought. They sat in comfortable silence, watching the Missouri fields fly by.

Something moving along the horizon caught her eye. She frowned and tried to make out the shapes in the distance s they grew closer. They looked like horses, but—

"Whoa! Do you see that?" Jason asked hopping to his feet excitedly.

"What are they?" Reyna asked as the creatures came closer, running parallel to the train.

They definitely looked like horses, but when they ran, their feet didn't touch the ground. And they were faster than any normal horse, running as fast if not faster than their train.

"I think they're venti!" Jason said. "Look how fast they're running."

He had a glint in his eye like he had an idea and he floated a few inches off the ground. Reyna was instantly suspicious. "What are you doing?"

"I have an idea," Jason said, which did nothing to reassure her.

He flew out of the train and dropped onto the ventus's back. The wind spirit reared on its hind legs and almost threw Jason from his back. Jason closed his eyes, seeming to concentrate on the wind swirling around him.

The horse seemed to calm down and ran next to the train. Jason grinned at her. "Hop on!" he said. "He can take us south."

Reyna bit her lip skeptically but ran and grabbed their backpacks. She tossed Jason his bag, which he placed in front of him to save room for Reyna on the horse.

"Come on, it'll be fine," Jason said, holding out his hand to help her.

Reyna hesitantly took his hand and let him pull her onto the ventus. The creature reared up again, clearly unhappy about the second rider. Reyna had to grab onto Jason's shoulders to keep from falling off the back. Suddenly, the creature took off like a rocket, bolting perpendicular to the train. The wind whipped at Reyna's face, and she clung to Jason for dear life.

Their trip south took a little over four hours. It was fast, but if Reyna was being honest, she would have preferred the train. They traveled so fast, she started to feel nauseous. It felt like riding a roller coaster, but instead of being over in under a minute, it just kept going.

As they got closer to the gulf, their ride started to slow down, much to Reyna's relief.

"It can't carry us much further," Jason said. "The wind's too calm right now."

As soon as he spoke, the horse disappeared from underneath them, sending them tumbling onto the ground. Thankfully the spirit had been travelling through a park when it decided to dump them, so they landed on the grass instead of the pavement.

The two of them lay in the grass for a moment, as they tried to catch their breath.  
"That was fun," Jason said after a moment.

Reyna stared at him skeptically. "So fun. Let's never do it again."

They dusted themselves off and began making their way toward the park exit. The sign above the park gate read "Louis Armstrong Park." Thankfully, there was a map of the surrounding area by the gate.

"We're in New Orleans," Reyna said with a frown. "Miami's still a long way away."

"We can't sail to the Sea of Monsters from here?" Jason asked.

"Not unless you feel like sailing all the way around Florida," Reyna said.

Jason frowned, as a son of Jupiter, the idea of sailing more than they had to definitely made him uneasy. "Right, okay so we need a new plan." He studied the map.

"The French Quarter's not far from here. Gwen told me about a really good cafe there. Let's head there and then we can plan how to get to Miami from here," he suggested.

Reyna considered it for a minute but couldn't seem to come up with any arguments against it. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

They didn't have to walk far to get to the French Quarter. It was a place that Reyna couldn't believe existed in the United States. Artists lined the streets selling their paintings and their sketches. Musicians hung at every corner playing jazz music while people danced in the streets.

It was only one in the afternoon, but there were already a few people stumbling around, clearly drunk, but having a good time as they danced with their glasses.

The open-air café Jason led them to was packed with people drinking coffee and eating beignets, crispy pillow-shaped pastries covered with a mountain of powdered sugar. Reyna managed to snag them a table while Jason went and ordered them beignets and coffee.

When he returned, they snacked on their beignets as they planned out how they would get to Miami.

"We could try to get another plane ticket," Reyna said, licking the powdered sugar off her fingers. "We're close enough that we could probably get a direct flight. Or we could try to take a bus, but I feel like that'd take forever."

Jason thought about his dream with Reyna's sister. "Quicker is probably better."

"Should we try to do like we did in San Francisco? Find a library, buy the tickets, and then take a taxi to the airport?" Reyna asked.

"I guess that's probably our best option," Jason said. He didn't know why, but he had a prickling feeling like someone was watching them.

He scanned the café, but there were so many people, it was impossible to tell if someone was actually watching them.

"You feel it too?" Reyna asked.

"It feels like someone's watching us," Jason said.

"I agree," She picked up the last beignet and split it in half, giving him a piece. "Come on, let's walk and eat."

He took the beignet piece and followed her out of the café. They made their way through the winding New Orleans streets, but no matter where they went, it still felt like there were eyes watching them, and it seemed to be growing stronger.

They made a mistake and turned down an empty road. There were no shops, no apartments. The entire street seemed to be boarded up and condemned.

"Why do I have a bad feeling that—"

"Don't say it," Jason said, but it was too late. With a loud shriek, two arrows shot over their heads, just barely missing them.

Reyna pulled out her dagger, and Jason unsheathed IVLIVS, but they still couldn't see their enemy. They couldn't very easily fight an invisible enemy.

Suddenly with a loud shriek, a hundred human looking creatures came crawling out of the buildings. They climbed down the buildings like their hands had suction cups attached to them. Their bodies were painted black, but they had painted skeletons on their bodies with neon body paint. The creatures shrieked and whistled as they surrounded them.

Some of them were armed with spears, some with swords, some with bows and arrows, and others with blow-guns.

Suddenly, one of the creatures, the leader Jason assumed by his crown of bones, stepped forward and instantly the other creatures went silent.

The leader took another step forward. "Tonight!" He yelled. "We feast!"

"What are the chances that they're inviting us to a feast?" Jason asked as the creatures began whistling and shrieking again.

"I'm pretty sure we are the feast," Reyna said grimly.

"Fantastic," Jason muttered as the creatures began to charge at them. Reyna and Jason stood back-to-back and tried warding off as many of the monsters as they could. Luckily, the monsters were pretty useless with swords, but they both knew it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed.

Jason felt something prick his neck. He reached up and felt a wave of dread as he plucked the blow-dart out of his neck.

"Uh-oh," He said, he could already feel his muscles growing sluggish from the poison. IVLIVS clattered out of his hand. "Reyna," he said, but before he could say anything else, the world went dark.

Reyna was fighting two of the creatures, when she heard them shriek with delight. She turned in time to see Jason collapse on the ground.

She cursed loudly and ran to fend off the creatures that were already trying to drag him away for their feast. She slashed viciously at the monsters, and she managed to kill a few of them, but she knew she was hopelessly outnumbered.

While she was distracted by a creature trying to carry Jason off again, one of the creatures grabbed her fighting arm and bit her. Reyna yelled in pain and dropped her dagger as the monster sunk its sharp teeth into her forearm.

Suddenly a darkness washed over her. She thought for a moment that maybe she was dying or already dead, but then she heard the creatures shrieking again, though this time it was in pain, not thrill. The one that was biting her arm released her and let out a shriek so terrible Reyna collapsed to her knees. But as quickly as it came, the darkness was gone, along with the monsters.

A woman stood at the end of the alley. She was tall, with thick frizzy brown hair pulled into a half pony-tail and held in place by a bat that seemed to be perched there. She wore gaudy dark makeup that would have made Circe cringe. She had on a long black dress with fishnet sleeves and a necklace of bones around her neck. She looked like a witch from a discount Halloween store, but Reyna also got the feeling that this woman was the source of the darkness that had saved them from the monsters.

Jason let out a weak groan from behind her. She had almost forgotten about him! She ran over to his side. His skin was ashy and feverish. She turned to the woman. "Please help him!"

"Anthropophage poison is very slow, but effective," the woman said calmly. "He'll be dead within the hour."

Reyna's breath caught in her throat. She hadn't known Jason for very long, but he had become the closest thing she had ever had to a friend. She couldn't lose him so suddenly. "Please! You have to save him."

The woman frowned and reached up a hand to stroke the little bat on her head. "My dear, I don't have to do anything. Besides hasn't my daughter taught you how to deal with poison?"

Reyna frowned in confusion as she tried to wrack her brain for an answer. Who would have taught her about poison other than—

"You're Circe's mother," Reyna said. "Hecate."

The woman smiled tightly, "You Romans usually call me _Trivia_ , but yes, Hecate is my more commonly used name. Now you didn't answer my question, didn't my daughter ever teach you how to deal with poison? It's a simple spell, really."

Reyna felt her cheeks grow warm. "I was never good with magic. My sister was always the better one."

Hecate narrowed her eyes as she studied her. Then she shrugged and turned to walk out of the ally. "Well, that's quite unfortunate for your friend."

"Wait!" Reyna yelled. "Please help us. We have to get back to Circe's island. We're going after Blackbeard."

Hecate paused. "Circe told me all about Blackbeard. He destroyed her spa." She turned and studied Reyna again. "Do you intend to kill him?"

Reyna matched the goddess's stare, refusing to be intimidated by her. "Yes."

Hecate looked between her and Jason. "And your friend, does he know you intend to kill him?"

She didn't answer.

The goddess clicked her tongue. "Very interesting," she murmured. "Very well, my girl. I'm not like Nemesis. I don't quite believe in revenge. But Blackbeard should pay for the crimes against my daughter."

 _As if Circe completely innocent,_ Reyna thought to herself. But she didn't dare voice that to Hecate, not before the goddess healed Jason.

"We'll take him back to my shop," Hecate said. "I've got lots of effective counter-poisons." She snapped her fingers and suddenly Jason's limp body was floating at shoulder height.

They walked back through the French Quarter, and Reyna couldn't help but wonder what the mortals saw as she followed Hecate with Jason floating unconscious behind them.

As if reading her thoughts, Hecate gave her a mischievous look. "The mortals see what they want to see. New Orleans has always had an interesting relationship with the mist because of its history. That's why so many mythic beings will settle here. People don't question the strange things that happen around here. So, some people will see your friend as a drunk college student, others will see him as you and I see him. But no one will question it."

"So those Anthropo… Anthropro… the cannibals?"

"The Anthropophage? The mortals think they're just cult members. The find them a little weird, but they have no idea they're cannibals… Well, I'm sure the mortals they eat realize they're cannibals, but by then its much too late," Hecate explained.

She stopped outside of a little voodoo shop and pushed open the door, Jason's body floating behind her. The window had fake spider webs and a gaudy sign that read: TRIVIA'S TRICKS: FORTUNE TELLING, PALM READING, CURSE REVERSING. On the door handle was a little flip sign with a little witch saying, "The Witch is Out."

Reyna pushed open the door, and a little bell chimed overhead. The inside of Hecate's store was dimly lit by candles that seemed to be floating in the air. There were soft-looking purple arm chairs throughout the shop, and book cases stuffed with old spell books and bizarre knick-knacks lined the walls, which Reyna thought was probably a bit of a fire hazard with all of the candles floating around. Soft jazz music played from a turn-table in the corner, and the room smelled of burning incense.

Hecate snapped her fingers, clearing a long table in the center of the room. She laid Jason down on a long wooden table in the middle of the room before heading to a room in the back. Reyna felt Jason's forehead and gasped at how hot his skin was. His breathing was coming out in shallow breaths, and he was drenched in sweat.

"The poison is slowly making its way to his brain. It's trying to cook him from the inside," Hecate said, appearing behind her.

"But you can help him, right?" Reyna asked.

Hecate pulled out a small vial from her sleeve. "Of course, my dear. When the Anthropophage are your neighbors, you tend to keep an anti-poison handy," She eyed Jason unpleasantly. "Hold his arms down, please. My anti-poison is effective, but it's not particularly pleasant."

Reyna held down Jason's arms as Hecate tipped his head back and poured the bright pink liquid down his throat. He went still, and for a moment Reyna worried that they were too late. But then he started convulsing and thrashing on the table.

"Hold him down, girl," Hecate commanded. "He needs to drink all of it, or it will not cure him."

Reyna tried to hold him down, but he was thrashing about, making it hard to keep a grip on him. He let out a gargled scream and the potion that Hecate gave him foamed in his throat making him look rabid.

"It's hurting him!" Reyna said.

"Good, that means it's working," Hecate said darkly.

But then as quickly as it started, Jason calmed down; his body slumping against the table. Reyna felt his forehead. His fever broke, but his skin was still damp with sweat and he shivered as if he had caught a chill.

"Do you have a blanket I could give him?" Reyna asked.

Hecate sighed but snapped her fingers, and a thick blanket shot out from one of the drawers and landed gently on top of Jason.

"He should be fine in a few hours," Hecate said, taking a seat on one of the soft arm chairs.

Reyna took a seat on the other arm chair. "Thank you for saving him," she said.

The goddess studied her again, and then snapped her fingers. Two mugs floated out from a room in the back, one with tea, and the other with hot chocolate. The hot chocolate mug flew to Reyna, and she took the mug in her hands breathing in the sweet smell.

Even though it was summer, the room was comfortably warm, and the hot chocolate made her feel like a little kid again. She didn't completely trust Hecate, but she felt safer in the goddess's voodoo shop than she had in the past few days. She felt her eyes growing heavy, and before she realized what was happening, she was drifting off to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey folks. Hope you're all doing well and having a warm and cozy winter season. I've been a lot busier with classes lately, so I haven't had as much time/energy to update, but I'm still plugging away. This chapter was interesting to write, and I hope I'm still doing the characters justice. As always, the more reviews the happier I become. You guys are great.**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **XIV.**

Reyna woke up feeling much different than she had grown used to feeling, which was to say she actually felt safe and well-rested for a change.

"Ah, good. You're awake," Hecate said, handing her a sandwich. "You, my dear, need to sleep more."

Reyna didn't say anything, her brain still not fully awake. She just nibbled on the edge of her sandwich.

"I healed your arm, by the way," Hecate added, sitting in the plushy chair in front of her. "I figured I already healed your friend, I might as well fix you up while I'm at it."

 _My friend?_ Reyna's brain still felt fuzzy. Suddenly she remembered why she was there in the first place. "Jason, is he—"

Hecate waved her hand at her dismissively. "He's fine, my dear. In fact, he should be waking up in three… two… one…"

Jason let out a sharp gasp and jolted upright on the table. "Holy Juno!" He looked around wildly at his surroundings, trying to figure out where he was.

Reyna ran over to the table and placed a hand on his shoulder like he had done when she had had her nightmares. He flinched at first, but then his eyes focused on her and his shoulders visibly relaxed.

Reyna hated how worried he had made her, but she couldn't find it in her to be mad at him. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"My whole body aches, but I'm alive, so that's probably good." He frowned, "I must have been pretty bad if you're being nice to me right now."

"Yeah, well don't get used to it," Reyna said. "That's twice now that you've passed out on me. I should start charging."

Jason grinned sheepishly, "My bad. I guess I owe you."

"Actually, you two owe me," Hecate said from her seat.

Jason furrowed his brow. "Who is that?" he whispered to Reyna.

"I am Trivia," the goddess answered. "Or Hecate, depending on who you ask."

"She scared away the cannibals and saved you from the poison," Reyna explained quietly.

"I am also going to help you get to Miami," Hecate added, sipping at the tea that suddenly appeared in her hands.

Jason frowned, "Why would you help us?"

Hecate shrugged and set her tea cup on the end table beside her. "Maybe because I think it's the right thing to do," she looked at Reyna and smiled. "Or maybe because I know a noble cause when I see one."

Jason stood from the table. He moved stiffly, clearly still sore from the poison and anti-poison. "I don't know how we could thank you enough," Jason started to say, but Hecate laughed.

"Oh, my dear, don't think I'm helping you solely out of charity. I expect you two to help me with a task as payment first."

Reyna frowned, the goddess had never mentioned anything about repayment.

"What sort of task?" she asked skeptically.

"A few years ago, one of my shop assistants stole one of my magic rings," Hecate said. "He brought it to the cemetery where his brother was buried. He intended to use the ring to raise the spirit of his brother, so they could talk again. Unfortunately, all he managed to do was raise an army of Tenebrae and get himself killed."

"What are Tenebrae?" Jason asked.

"They're a type of daemon; shadow spirits. Normally they're benign and mind their own business, but these ones are a bit… testy… if you will," Hecate explained. "They've been wreaking havoc in the graveyard to the point that even the mortals have taken notice. They've closed it to the public indefinitely because they think some devil-worshipers have summoned up demons from the underworld."

"Which is kind of what happened," Reyna pointed out.

Hecate clicked her tongue at her, "The point is, I need that ring back. It should be still near his brother's grave. Look for the last name Arquette. The ring should be around his grave. As long as it stays in that cemetery, the Tenebrae can't rest, and they'll be trapped there, wreaking havoc for the rest of eternity."

"Why can't you retrieve the ring?" Jason asked.

Hecate spun to face Jason, a dangerous fire in her eyes, "Come again?" she asked dangerously.

"What I meant was, you said your ring was stolen years ago," Jason said, trying to backpedal. "Why haven't you been able to retrieve it before?"

Hecate sniffed disdainfully. "My ring was taken to a _Catholic_ cemetery. I'm a pagan goddess. I am forbidden from entering their sacred grounds."

"Then that's why the Tenebrae are trapped," Reyna murmured. "They're spirits from a pagan religion—"

"They are cursed if they stay there, but they also cannot leave," Hecate supplied. "Yes. That's why my ring must be removed."

"You said they killed your assistant," Jason said. "What do we do if they try to kill us too?"

Hecate gave him a tight smile that was not at all reassuring. "Their essences will be scattered if they are touched by Imperial Gold." The goddess eyed the two of them appraisingly. She turned to Jason. "I see you have your weapon," she turned to Reyna who tried to not feel intimidated by the goddess. She had a bad feeling she was up to something. "But you my dear could use a new weapon."

"Stygian Iron works well against ghosts," Reyna said guardedly.

Hecate reached into her sleeve and pulled out a gold saber. Reyna felt as though her heart had dropped down to her stomach. _It can't be_. She thought. She had thrown the saber into the ocean the night she had—

Hecate handed Reyna the saber, and Reyna tried to control the tremor in her hands as she gripped the handle. She tried not to think about the last time she had held the saber. "Consider it another gift from me," the goddess said, watching her reaction closely.

Reyna sheathed the weapon and strapped it to her belt loop in place of her dagger. She was careful to keep her expression neutral. She refused to let the goddess know she had phased her.

"You should leave soon," Hecate said. "Mortal police will be more concerned with the drunks than they will with the cemetery. It's the best time to go."

She made it sound like they would be going to a party or to watch the sunset, not like they were going to a cemetery in the middle of the night to battle a bunch of ghosts and retrieve a stupid ring. But Hecate said if they could retrieve the ring, she would get them to Miami, so Reyna figured they didn't really have any better options.

"So where exactly is this cemetery?" Jason asked.

Hecate smiled darkly, and suddenly an inky blackness washed over them.

* * *

When the blackness dissipated, they found themselves in front of a wrought iron gate outside of the cemetery. If Jason was being honest, he was getting tired of blacking out. Granted, his most recent black out was caused by an immortal witch / goddess transporting them across town, but still, it was getting a bit old.

He looked at Reyna, her face set in grim determination. Her fingers fiddled with the handle of her saber, but she didn't look reassured to have it by her side. He wanted to ask her about it. When Hecate had handed her the weapon, she looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Do you want to fly us in?" Reyna asked, startling him from his thoughts.

"Not really, but I guess we've got to go in there one way or another," Jason said.

He took her hand and was startled by how cold it was. "Are you okay?" He asked.

She grimaced. "Let's just get this over with."

He gave her hand a light squeeze, and then flew them upward and over the gate. Jason wasn't sure what he was expecting; maybe an ambush, or sudden fog to roll in, or a slew of ghosts waiting for them. But the graveyard looked the same from inside the gate as it had from the outside.

Jason had always found cemeteries to be creepy, but this cemetery in New Orleans felt creepier than most, especially at night. Because the city was built below sea-level, all of the graves were above-ground, commemorated with little mausoleums and monuments. They were all taller than Jason, making it impossible to see over or around them unless he flew. It felt like a maze, and Jason couldn't shake the feeling that someone or something was watching them… again.

"There are hundreds of graves here," Reyna said quietly. "We should split up, otherwise we're never going to find Arquette's tomb."

Jason frowned, he _really_ didn't like the idea of splitting up in a cemetery with a bunch of angry spirits lurking around. He had seen enough horror movies with his cohort to know that was not a good idea. Still, she had a point. There were hundreds of graves. If they stuck together it could take them all night to find Hecate's stupid ring.

"Okay, but as soon as one of us finds the tomb, we shout for the other one," Jason said.

Reyna nodded grimly. "I'll take the ones to the left end. You take the ones to the right. We'll meet in the middle."

"Sounds good," Jason said. "Please be safe."

"You too," Reyna said. "No passing out this time."

"Har, har, har. You're hilarious," Jason said, feeling slightly more relaxed.

Reyna gave him a wry smile as she turned and began walking toward the graves. Jason set off in his own direction, but it wasn't on his own for long when his anxiety began returning. He felt like there were eyes all around him, just watching. Suddenly he heard a whisper. It was so faint, for a moment he almost thought he imagined it. But then more voices joined in, all of them whispers.

 _In the company of a killer._

 _A liar and a killer._

 _If he lies to a killer does that make him a sinner or a saint?_

Jason couldn't make sense of what the whispers meant, but they filled him with dread as he worked his way through the cemetery. Some of the tombs were so old the lettering was faded. Smith, Brown, Angles, Cantillon, but no Arquette.

 _If a liar kills a killer, is he the angel or the devil?_

 _Kill the liar._

 _Kill the killer._

"Jason!" Reyna's voice almost made him jump out of his skin, but it seemed to silence the whispers, and for that he was grateful. He ran to where he heard her voice. She was standing in front of a weather-warn tomb with crumbling bricks and faded lettering.

"This doesn't make any sense," Reyna murmured, staring at the tomb.

Jason looked to see what she was staring at. The lettering on the tomb was pretty faded, but he could just make out the name and year: _Victor Arquette 1794-1821._

"There's got to be another Arquette here," Jason said. "Hecate said her ring was stolen by Arquette's brother just a few years ago."

Reyna looked around the tomb and spotted something on the ground; Hecate's ring. Suddenly the whispers came back louder, like a wind roaring in his ears.

 _The killer is a thief._

 _She means to steal our ring._

 _Kill the liar!_

 _Kill the killer!_

 _Kill the thief!_

"Reyna, wait!" Jason cried, but it was too late. As soon as she touched the ring, it was like a cork had been released. Spirits swirled around them shouting and shrieking. Voices filtered into his head, telling him things that didn't make sense.

 _You dare to help the killer?_

 _You help her steal our ring?_

 _He does not know the killer's crimes._

 _He helps the killer thieve._

Jason wasn't sure if Reyna was hearing the same things he was, but he saw her cover her ears and drop to her knees. Her eyes were squeezed shut, like she was trying to block out whatever the spirits were trying to tell her.

 _Show the liar._

 _Expose the killer._

 _The thief is a killer!_

The wind picked up sending debris flying through the air. Jason covered his eyes, as dust and sand swirled through the air. But then, everything went still. The voices were gone, and the wind had stopped. He opened his eyes and was shocked to find himself standing in the kitchen of a modern-looking house. The walls were bare, and the windows were boarded up, but Jason could see sunlight peaking through the cracks of the wood.

A man with tan skin and shaggy black hair sat at the kitchen table hunched over what looked like a battle plan. He had dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, and a five o'clock shadow, like he had neglected to sleep and shave for a few days. He nervously twirled a knife in his hands as he muttered something unintelligible under his breath. Reyna's Imperial Gold saber sat on the far end of the table.

"No!" Reyna shouted. She was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, her face white as a sheet as she stared in horror at the man in the kitchen.

"Hylla!" Another voice floated through the house, but it sounded familiar. A little girl around nine-years-old skipped into the kitchen, two long dark braids waving behind her. Jason sucked in a breath as he recognized the girl. She was younger, with a more relaxed stance and expression, but it was unmistakably Reyna. Which meant the man must have been—

"Hylla, I'm back! Come on, we're going to be late for—" The younger Reyna froze as she spotted the man sitting at the table, and her eyes widened with fear.

"Papa," she squeaked. "I thought you weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow."

"You and your sister wanted that, didn't you?" The man muttered. "Thought you could get the jump on me. But I knew. I always knew. Now I've got the jump on both of you."

The younger Reyna began inching back toward the doorway, putting as much space between her and her father as possible. "Where's Hylla?" she asked carefully.

"You'd want to know, wouldn't you? You want her to help you finish the job, don't you? Not if I get you first!"

Suddenly the man lunged at Reyna with his knife and the younger girl screamed as she dodged his blade. Jason wanted to help her, but his body felt like it was glued in place. He could only watch. He glanced over at the real Reyna and saw that she had her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to block out the scene in front of her.

"Hylla!" the younger Reyna screamed.

"Oh no! You think your sister's going to help you finish me off? I don't think so!" The man growled, as he chased the girl around the kitchen table.

Another girl ran down the stairs and passed through Jason like he was a ghost. She looked about fifteen-years-old with the same long dark hair and tan skin like Reyna. It had to be Hylla. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight before her. "Papa!" She screamed at the man.

But as soon as the man saw her, he picked up the kitchen chair and threw it at her. Jason winced as the chair made a loud _crack_ sound as it hit the girl in the head, instantly knocking her out cold. The younger Reyna's eyes widened with horror as she ran over to her sister. Her breathing was coming out in panicked gasps as she tried to wake the older girl.

"Hylla, wake up!" Reyna cried. "Please, wake up!" She turned to her father in shock as tears streamed down her face. "You killed her," she gasped. Her eyes narrowed, and she grit her teeth in a look of fury that made Jason's blood run cold. "You killed her!" she screamed.

She ran over to the table, where the saber still lay on the table. In one quick motion, the younger Reyna picked up the saber and slashed at her father. The minute the Imperial Gold bit into his skin, he evaporated into dust, leaving the younger Reyna in stunned silence.

Reyna, the real Reyna, bit back a sob as the scene unfolded. Jason had almost forgotten she was there. He tore his eyes away from the scene in front of him and saw her still standing in the doorway, Hecate's ring lay on the ground at her feet. Her eyes were still squeezed shut, and her breathing came out in ragged gasps. At some point she must have bit her lip, because there was blood along her lower lip. Her hands were balled so tightly into fists that her knuckles were white. That's when Jason noticed the shadow spirit hovering over her shoulder. It looked as though it was whispering in her ear. Reyna let out another strangled sob.

 _The thief is guilty._

 _She killed her father._

 _Patricide!_

 _Slay the killer!_

Jason felt like his body was moving in slow motion as he crossed the room. He flipped IVLIVS, feeling his sword balanced in his hands.

 _Kill the killer!_

Reyna opened her eyes as he approached, and he could see the unshed tears in the corners of her eyes. He raised IVLIVS and she squeezed her eyes shut again, a single tear sliding down her cheek.

 _Kill the killer!_

He swung at Hecate's ring, and the scene around them instantly dissolved, revealing the New Orleans cemetery. The whispering stopped, and he no longer felt like he was being watched. He flipped IVLIVS back into a coin and reached down and picked up Hecate's ring off the ground. The ring was smoking, but otherwise undamaged. He tucked it along with IVLIVS into his pocket.

Reyna watched him warily, but Jason noticed that she refused to meet his gaze. He could see the tension in her shoulders, and her left hand was still balled in a fist, while her right hand hovered nervously near the hilt of her saber. He carefully placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to ignore the way she flinched when he touched her.

"Reyna," he murmured.

She bit her lip again and forced her eyes to meet his. "Now you know my secret," she said bitterly, her voice barely above a whisper. "I killed my father." Her voice broke when she said 'father.'

He was quiet for a moment as he tried to think of what to say, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't shocked by what the spirits had shown them. He knew it wasn't her fault; not really. Still, he couldn't help but remember the fury he saw in her eyes before she killed the mania.

"Imperial Gold can only kill monsters, gods, and their children," he finally said. "If your father was a mortal, that saber would have passed right through him. You didn't kill your father. You killed a mania. That's what I saw."

"At camp I would be charged with patricide," Reyna said, tearing her gaze away from his again.

"They'd be wrong," Jason said evenly. "And besides, no one at camp needs to know. I'm not going to tell anyone, Reyna."

She nodded, still not looking at him. Jason squeezed her shoulder, and then pulled her in for a hug, surprised when she actually hugged him back. She rubbed her eyes, as she pulled back, and offered him a soft smile, but it didn't meet her eyes.

He squeezed her hand. "Come on, let's fly this stupid ring back to Hecate."


	15. Chapter 15

**Happy 2019 everyone. I'm sorry for not updating in a while. I've been a bit busier the past few weeks with work and friends and other writing projects I've been working on. I've also just largely been not as excited with this site as I was eight years ago. A lot changes I guess. Oh well. I still enjoy writing this story. I'm unfortunately not overly pleased with this chapter, but I needed to publish it to get the story moving again. Also, for those of you who have been writing reviews, I read every one of them, and appreciate all of them. You guys make this website worth it. 3**

 **~ArtemisFrimm**

* * *

 **XV.**

They flew back to Hecate's store in silence, Reyna only spoke when she needed to give Jason directions. Jason couldn't help but replay the scene in his head. Jason was certain that it was the mania Reyna had killed with the saber, but he still couldn't imagine having a parent turn into a monster right in front of him. The monster had her father's face, and it had tried to kill her and Hylla.

 _Hylla_.

He couldn't really blame Reyna for how she reacted to the mania, especially when she thought he had killed her sister, but still, he could see why Bellona would be hesitant to let Reyna know that Hylla was in danger. But that somehow made him feel worse about the secret he was keeping from her.

"That's her shop," Reyna said, breaking his train of thought.

"Good. We can give her this stupid ring and get out of this city," Jason said, trying to keep the mood light. But Reyna hardly acted like she heard him, too lost in her own thoughts.

He landed them in front of the shop entrance. It was way after midnight, but the neon lights still flashed "open" and the sign on the door still read "The Witch Is In." Jason pushed open the door, and the little bell hanging from the door frame jingled.

In the living room, a young man sat at the table across from Hecate; a large crystal ball on the table between them. The man was staring intently into the crystal ball as Hecate muttered some sort of spell in ancient Greek, her eyes closed in concentration. Reyna cleared her throat to get their attention.

"I am in the middle of a very important séance right now, please do not disturb me," Hecate said without opening her eyes.

Reyna scowled, her hand moving toward the saber on her belt. Jason understood she was probably more than a little irritated by Hecate's side quest, but he didn't need her inducing the goddess's wrath, at least before they got to Miami. He pulled the ring out of his pocket and slammed it on the table in front of Hecate, causing her and her customer to jump.

Hecate looked down at the ring and then up at Jason. "Oh, it's you." She looked at her watch. "That was faster than I was expecting." She turned to her bewildered customer, "Tony, dear, we'll have to continue this another time."

The man glared at Jason as he stalked out of the store, clearly miffed that his audience with the goddess was cut short. Hecate picked up the ring and twirled it between her fingers, looking impressed.

"I'll be honest, I was not sure if you would be able to do it." She arched an eyebrow at Reyna. "You, my dear, had me especially worried. Especially after I gave you that saber."

"You knew what would happen," Reyna growled.

Hecate shrugged and studied her finger nails, "I had an inkling, yes."

"Then why send us there? That Arquette guy, you said he died a few years ago, but his brother died in the 1800s," Jason said.

Hecate waved a hand at his comment as if shooing away a bug, "It hardly matters when I lost the ring. What matters is you were able to retrieve it and free the Tenebrae from their prison. Besides, I'm sure your trip was educational at least. Tenebrae have a nasty habit of exposing your secrets. You know it's never good to keep secrets on a quest." Jason found he couldn't meet the goddess's pointed gaze. She couldn't know about his secret. But the slight smirk on her face made him begin to think otherwise.

"People have secrets for a reason," Jason warned, hoping the goddess would take the hint, but her grin only grew wider.

"Oh, I don't know. I think it's always important to know what motivates a person, what makes them tick." She moved over to Reyna, who had her eyes cast down, like she was trying to shrink in on herself. The goddess stood behind Reyna and placed her hands on her shoulders, causing Reyna to flinch.

"Now you know all about our dear Reyna's dark past, and now she knows your little secret as well. Isn't that right, Jason?" Hecate eyed him with a dark glint in her eyes, and Reyna furrowed her brows in confusion. She looked at him for the first time since they left the graveyard.

"What is she talking about?" she asked.

"You mean he hasn't told you yet?" Hecate said with a dramatic gasp.

"She's just trying to mess with us, Reyna," Jason said, his heart beginning to race. "We got you your ring. Now take us to Miami."

Reyna looked between Jason and Hecate, as if trying to decipher the hidden argument between them. A grim sort of determination settled in her eyes. She turned to the goddess and met her gaze.

"I trust Jason," She said, and Jason felt a heavy guilt pool in the pit of his stomach. "If he has a secret it's his to keep. I won't have you force him to tell me. We did what you asked, now help us get to Miami."

Hecate shrugged, "Fine. I'll send you on your way. I just assumed you would want to know about the fate of your sister, but I guess I was wrong."

Reyna didn't try to hide the alarm on her face, and Jason felt his stomach bottom-out. Before Reyna could ask the goddess for an explanation, an inky blackness overwhelmed them, and Hecate's shop disappeared.

When they finally came to, Jason realized they were in some sort of hotel room, two key cards lay on the bed next to them. He looked at his watch, it was already three in the afternoon. They had been out for over 12 hours. He scrambled to his feet and glanced out of the round window, realizing with a start that they were on a cruise ship pulling away from port.

"Are we in Miami?" Jason asked.

"This cruise ship is heading for the Caribbean. We'll be near the Sea of Monsters by tomorrow," Reyna said, and Jason realized she was eyeing him warily. He remembered with a jolt the conversation in Hecate's shop. He knew what was coming, but he still wasn't prepared to answer her question.

"What was Hecate talking about when she mentioned my sister?" Reyna asked quietly.

Jason sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. It was getting longer he realized. He would need a haircut when they made it back to camp… _if_ they made it back to camp. He found he couldn't meet Reyna's eyes, but he knew he couldn't lie to her anymore. Not after what he saw in the graveyard.

Jason wet his lips and tried to find his voice. "Your mother visited me in a dream when we were in Colorado. She didn't want me to say anything—"

"Where is my sister?" Reyna asked firmly. Her eyes were sharp and dangerous, but Jason could see the panic underneath her hard exterior.

"I don't really know," Jason said honestly. "But I think she's in trouble. That monster we saw in Colorado, Crocca, she's hoping to use Hylla as bait, so she can kill us. She wants our quest to fail."

Jason half expected her to scream and yell at him or even hit him, but she seemed to be in shock, which was almost worse.

"The dreams I had about the cyclops… you told me they were just nightmares," Reyna murmured. "You knew they were real."

"I'm so sorry, Reyna. I wanted to tell you, but your mother made me promise—"

"My mother?"

"She was afraid that if you knew Hylla was in danger you would abandon the quest," Jason said quietly, feeling shame wash over him. Reyna was quiet for a moment, and Jason saw her regain her icy composure.

"That's not her decision to make," Reyna said, the venom returning to her voice.

"Reyna, I—"

"It wasn't your decision to make either," she said, visibly shaking with rage. "But I guess it doesn't matter to you whether my sister lives or dies. As long as your precious camp is safe."

Jason winced at the bite in her words, "I promise you, Reyna, I wasn't going to let your sister die—"

"Your promise doesn't mean anything to me!" Reyna said angrily. "She's the only family I have, but it's not like you would understand that."

Jason felt his blood pressure rising. He could feel the static charging in the air, but Reyna didn't seem to care. "Camp Jupiter _is_ my family! It's the only home I've ever had! Look, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure we can save your sister, but Bellona has a point. We can't put thousands of lives in danger over your sister. We have to succeed at this quest, and then we can save your sister."

Reyna looked ready to punch him, but instead she turned on her heels and stormed out of their cabin, slamming the door behind her.

Jason slumped onto the floor, tugging at his hair. He wanted to be angry with her. He wanted to feel like she was being unreasonable, but all he could feel was guilt. He didn't know who he hated more in that moment: Bellona for her stupid promise or himself for listening to her. Whatever semblance of a friendship he and Reyna had formed over the past few days seemed to crumble to dust.

* * *

Reyna didn't know where she was going. She wasn't even sure if she was allowed to be roaming around the ship decks, but she knew if she stayed in the room with Jason any longer, she would either scream, cry, or do both. She was furious. She could hear Lupa's scolding voice in her head as she sat down beside a fountain on the top deck, _control your anger, child, lest it controls you._ Even Mars's warning rang in her ears _your mother sent me… you need to get that anger of yours under control._

She tried to block thoughts of her mother from her mind, but she couldn't help the resentment building up inside of her. Mars had told her that Bellona was too busy to visit her own daughter, yet she had time to visit Jason Grace in a dream. And then she had the audacity to make Jason promise not to tell her about her sister. She knew it wasn't really Jason's fault… not really. If their positions were reversed, she would have probably done the same thing. But it still stung.

Her thoughts drifted to Hylla, and she felt a lump build up in her throat. The last time Reyna had seen her sister, she had told her she hated her. Now she might never see her sister again. _Even your sister receives your rage_ , Mars had told her. She tried to blink back the hot tears in her eyes. _You will not cry for your sister anymore_ , Lupa had said. But she found she didn't have the strength to keep herself from crying. She had already lost so much. She couldn't bear to lose her sister too.

She tried to think; the last time she had seen her sister was in Seattle after Blackbeard had dumped them ashore. And Reyna was all the way across the country, powerless to help her. She knew the Sea of Monsters had a sort of wormhole; one that could jump them from the Sea of Monsters to the coast off of Washington. But the only person who knew where to find that wormhole was Blackbeard himself. She didn't even know if he knew exactly where to find it, or if it had just been dumb luck that they had found the portal. But if he did know where to find the wormhole, he could help them get back to the west coast in time to save her sister and Camp Jupiter. It was ironic, really; the one person who could really help her save her sister was the person who had tried to kill them only a few months ago. She just had to hope that they would find Blackbeard in time.

She had an idea of where they might be able to find him, but the thought didn't reassure her. Unfortunately, she would have to hope she was right, otherwise… she didn't want to think about it.

"Keep quiet will you!" a voice hissed, shocking her out of her thoughts. She ducked behind the fountain as two men walked past. She had done enough sneaking around in her past to recognize when people were trying to not be seen, and these men clearly didn't want to be noticed. They looked human enough, but Reyna knew monsters could manipulate the mist to appear more human than they were.

"Sorry, I've just never seen one in real life before," the second man said quietly.

"Yeah, well, don't go spreading it around. Boss has a gorgon in Bermuda that's paying big money for it," the first man said irritably.

Reyna considered going back to their cabin to warn Jason, but she didn't want to lose the two men. Whatever they had was clearly valuable to a monster, and whatever was good for a monster usually spelled doom for demigods. Unsheathing her dagger, she crept after the two men, careful to not be seen.

She followed them down the ship decks, lower than she thought would have been possible. She wondered briefly if she was walking into a trap when the two men stopped outside of a maintenance door.

The first man tapped a series of knocks on the door like he was tapping in Morse code. She heard the clang of the lock releasing, and the two men slipped through the door into the maintenance room. Minutes passed. Reyna couldn't be sure if the room was had one-way entrance, but she didn't want to lose the two men. She was just about to try the door herself, when it swung back open and the men walked back out. Reyna ducked behind some pipes, heart racing as the two men walked past her.

"That was amazing!" the second man gushed.

"A real thing of beauty, aye?" the first man beamed, "Took us almost a year to catch the damn thing."

Their voices carried through the hallway until they disappeared. Reyna let out a sigh of relief as she slipped out from behind the pipes. She [EO1] crept over to the door and examined it, looking for booby traps or alarms—anything that would alert the monsters on the ship that she was there. She didn't see anything out of place. It looked like a regular ship maintenance door. She quickly tapped the same rhythm she had heard the man tap earlier and listened satisfying sound of the heavy lock releasing. She quickly slipped inside the room and closed the door behind her.

She wasn't sure what she was expecting to walk into. Maybe some sort of lab with massive weapons or automans that could tear demigods to pieces. Or maybe some secret labyrinth that would lead her deeper into the ship.

Instead, she found herself in a rather normal looking supply closet. There were brooms and mops tossed haphazardly in the back, and shelves with enough toilet paper, towel, and soap to supply a small army. But the most surprising thing was the golden-brown, fully-grown Pegasus tied to the ground in the center.

The creature was alive, but clearly in distress; its eyes were wide and darted around wildly as its sides heaved and its mouth foamed from dehydration and fear. Reyna unsheathed the saber Hecate had given her, but the Pegasus began thrashing around wildly, clearly nervous about the Imperial Gold weapon.

"Okay, okay," Reyna said, laying the weapon on the floor and trying to keep her voice calm. The last thing she needed was for those men to hear them and return.

She held her hands up in the universal "I-mean-no-harm" gesture as she approached the animal slowly, trying not to scare it. As she got closer, she could see where the rope had cut into the animal's skin. She briefly wished that the men would return so she could send them to Tartarus herself for treating an animal this way. She was all-too familiar with men who kidnapped and abused other living creatures; men who had no regard for life. Pirates and smugglers were not so different from one another.

She carefully began untying the knots that bound the Pegasus to the floor. The animal watched her carefully, as if trying to figure out if she was a friend or foe. Despite his wounds, he was truly beautiful; shimmering golden-brown fur and feathers, and eyes the color of honey. If Reyna wasn't seeing it with her own eyes, she would have thought he was fake.

"What's your name, huh?" Reyna asked softly as she worked on the knots. The Pegasus gave her a disdained look, and Reyna couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips. "Well my name's Reyna." She pulled at another knot. "But you've got to have a name too."

The horse bucked its head, and Reyna could have sworn it seemed like he was agreeing with her. Reyna rubbed his nuzzle gently before moving to the knots holding his wings in place.

"Your fur is kind of the color of peanut butter," Reyna mused. "How about Skippy?"

The horse snorted and bucked its head, clearly not thrilled to be named after a peanut butter brand.

"I like Skippy," Reyna said. "We could say it's short for Scipio, the famous Roman general."

The Pegasus seemed to consider this for a minute, before giving a happy whinny.

"Shh!" Reyna tried to quiet Scipio, but she could hear the men approaching again from down the hall. "Damn it," she cursed. "Okay, Skippy, we don't have a lot of time, so you're going to have to trust me."

She ran to retrieve her saber off the floor, cutting through the last of the rope easily, just as the doors of the store room burst open revealing the two men from earlier.

"I thought I sensed a demigod on this ship!" The first one growled, "What the hell are you doing here, kid?"

Reyna stared at the men and tried to think of a response, but before she could act, Scipio reared on his hind legs and kicked the first man in the head with his hooves, knocking him out cold, and shocking Reyna out of her stupor.

The other man reached for his knife, but Reyna was faster. She charged at him with her saber and smacked him on the temple with the butt of her saber. He instantly crumpled to the ground.

Reyna stared at her winged friend and then at the two unconscious smugglers on the floor. "What do you think we should do with them?" Reyna wondered.

Scipio snorted something that Reyna could assume wasn't very polite, but she couldn't help but agree with him. "I have an idea." Reyna said grimly.

A few minutes later, she and Scipio were sneaking out of the storage room, careful not to be seen. She had tied up the two men and bound their mouths, hoping that would keep them from causing trouble for the time being.

It was already dark outside, Reyna hadn't realized how long she had been gone. She was still mad at Jason, but she also hoped he was still in the room. She had forgotten to take the spare key after their argument, and she had a feeling it would be hard to explain where she had found a Pegasus if she and Scipio got caught.

She knocked quietly on the door, not wanting to draw attention to herself or the full-sized Pegasus she had stolen. "Jason!" she hissed, hoping to get his attention.

She heard the lock releasing as he opened the door a crack. His shoulders visibly relaxed when he saw her, but the scowl on his face deepened.

"Where the hell have you been?" he growled, "I've been looking all over the ship for you."

"Sorry, I got a little side-tracked."

Scipio peeked his head out over Reyna's shoulder, giving Jason a look over.

Jason's jaw went slack as he stared wide-eyed at the Pegasus. "Is that a—"

"Yes, now can you let us in please?" Reyna asked irritably.

Jason moved to the side to let them in, but he still stared slack-jawed at Scipio. He quickly shut and locked the door behind them, before turning to face Reyna and her new friend.

"Uh, so…." He gestured to Scipio for some sort of explanation.

"So, this is Scipio," Reyna began. She looked at the Pegasus who was watching Jason suspiciously, "Skippy, this is Jason."

"Skippy, like the peanut butter?" Jason asked.

Scipio snorted at Jason unhappily. "Skippy's short for Scipio," Reyna explained. She told Jason about the smugglers and how she had found Scipio in the ship's store room.

"So, you stole an illegal Pegasus?" Jason summarized.

Scipio snorted indignantly. "I commandeered him," Reyna said.

The Pegasus flicked his had proudly and Reyna rubbed his nose affectionately. Jason couldn't help but smile. "Unbelievable," he said. "I leave you by yourself for a few hours and you come back with a pet Pegasus."

"Technically I was the one who left you," Reyna corrected him seriously.

Jason frowned, "I really am sorry, Reyna. I should have just told you."

Reyna frowned, and Scipio pressed his muzzle against her face, clearly sensing her distress. "I know. It's not your fault. If I were in your position, I probably would have done the same thing. I just—" Her voice broke, and Jason squeezed her shoulder.

"I meant what I said. We're going to save your sister," Jason said quietly.

Reyna nodded, wanting to trust him. "First things first, we have to find Blackbeard," Reyna said. "Scipio agreed to help us get to our next destination. We'll leave tomorrow morning."

"Where exactly are we going?" Jason asked.

"The most likely place we'll find Blackbeard," Reyna said with a grimace. "Circe's Island Resort."


	16. Chapter 16

**Happy (late) Chinese New Year to anyone who may celebrate it. Not a super speedy update unfortunately, but in my defense our winter camp at my work had me quite busy, and then I went to Australia and quite frankly didn't feel like doing much fiction writing. I've also been studying for a test that I'm preparing to take in June, so I've been swamped a bit. But, I did write a lot on the airplane. It just took me a long time to actually type out of the update. At any rate, here's the next chapter. We're finally entering the Sea of Monsters. As always if you like this story, please leave a review and let me know. Reviews make my day and also help encourage me to write faster, because I'm needy and like attention. Hope you all have a great week/weekend!**

 **~AF**

* * *

 **XVI.**

That night, Reyna dreamed she was on the beach. For a moment she thought she was back in Puerto Rico, but it was too quiet. She recognized the deafening silence of Circe's Island. Circe's attendants rarely strayed away from the pools and spas at the resort, so most days Reyna had the entire beach to herself.

Sometimes she could drag Hylla to the beach with her. Those moments were rare, but they were always Reyna's favorite days on the island. At the beach, Hylla would drop her fake smile and overly perky attitude and just be Hylla. Reyna could see that in those moments, her sister was never truly happy, but that made Reyna feel closer to her. Hylla was the only person who could ever truly understand her. She was the only person who shared her grief and guilt.

Hylla wasn't there with her that day. There were visitors on the island, so Hylla was busy being CC's assistant. Reyna had been able to sneak off to the beach after she had finished brushing the blonde girl- Annabeth's hair. She closed her eyes, listening to the gentle crash of the waves imaging she was back in Puerto Rico before everything went wrong.

Suddenly she heard screams and cheers coming from the spa, which was odd. Normally Circe's prisoners never had the chance to make a commotion. She ran up the bank to get a better view. She watched as the two visitors, a boy named Percy Jackson and Annabeth, sprinted away from the spa toward the north beach where Circe moored all of her victims' ships. Reyna frowned, it was unlike Circe to let a boy run free…

Before she could dwell on it more, a loud "boom" jarred her from her thoughts. She looked to the west wing of Circe's spa and watched in horror as the wing exploded into a large fireball.

"Hylla!" Reyna screamed, sprinting barefoot toward what was left of the spa. As she ran, she realized something was very wrong. Attendants ran away from the spa toward the beach, screaming and panicking as men with scraggly beards and ragged clothing chased after them. Most of the men ignored Reyna until she ran smack into one of them.

The man's clothes reminded Reyna of one of the ghosts she had seen in Puerto Rico; a thought that did not comfort her. He had a thick, wiry black beard that covered most of his face. And Reyna had seen enough pirate movies to recognize the captain's hat on his head.

But his eyes were what scared Reyna the most. They were completely black like he had no iris. Reyna was sure it had to be a trick of the light, but where his pupil should have been, it looked like little dark flames burned in his eyes.

He crouched down close to her face so Reyna could see the rotted teeth in his mouth and smell his rancid breath. He grinned at her evilly, revealing more rotten teeth. "Hello," he said.

Reyna tried backing away from him but bumped into another pirate who was blocking her from behind. She screamed as the pirate threw a burlap sack over her head, blinding her.

She jolted awake, a real scream making its way from her throat. Jason bolted awake in the other bed, bleary eyed, but with his sword poised to attack. Scipio watched her with his big brown eyes, clearly anxious over her distress. He gently nuzzled her face with his nose.

Reyna felt tears prick at her eyes as she rubbed Scipio's nose, but she blinked them away. She wouldn't let Blackbeard scare her again. She needed to be brave; her sister's life depended on it.

"Nightmare?" Jason asked, flipping his sword back into a coin.

Reyna nodded. "Sorry," she mumbled as she focused on petting her Pegasus. It was easier than meeting his eyes.

"Past or present?" Jason asked.

"Past," Reyna said quietly.

Jason was silent for a moment. "Did you want to talk about it?" he asked.

In moments like this, Reyna had come to appreciate Jason Grace. If she wanted to talk about her nightmares, she knew he would listen. But he also wouldn't push her to talk about them if she didn't want to.

Reyna shook her head. "No, we should probably get ready to leave actually. I think we're close enough that Scipio can fly us to Circe's island."

Jason rubbed his eyes and yawned. "How do you know Blackbeard will still be at Circe's island?" he asked. "I thought Crocca said that he sacked her island a year ago."

Reyna bit her lip. She knew Jason deserved to know what happened, but she was already haunted by her memories when she slept. She didn't really want to relive them while she was awake too. She sighed, "Blackbeard hates Circe. And her island is an easy target with endless supplies. I can't say for certain, but I would assume when he needs more food or supplies for his ship, he makes Circe deliver."

Jason frowned. "Why does he hate Circe so much? What'd she do?"

"Circe kept him and his crew as her prisoners for hundreds of years as a guinea pigs," Reyna explained. She remembered having to feed the guinea pigs every morning. None of the other attendants wanted to do that job, and since Reyna was the youngest, she was always given guinea pig duty. She couldn't be sure which guinea pigs were which, but she never liked feeding them. They weren't cute like regular guinea pigs, and they always tried to bite her. "I assume he was never very happy about that."

"How did he become human again then?" Jason asked.

Reyna furrowed her brow as she thought. "I don't really know exactly. There were two visitors that day; a boy and a girl. I think they did something. But somehow all of the pirates became human again and they decided to take revenge on Circe. They burned her resort, raided the kitchens, and killed or kidnapped most of Circe's attendants."

Jason was quiet as he thought about her story. Finally, he stared at her, and Reyna tried to not be intimidated by his bright blue eyes. She knew what question was coming, but she still didn't feel prepared to answer it.

"You and your sister were there, weren't you?" he asked quietly.

Reyna nodded solemnly. "After the uh… incident… in Puerto Rico, my sister and I fled. Circe was hiring spa attendants, so Hylla thought it would be a safe place for us away from monsters and ghosts. Circe provided us with housing and food. It was… safe. Until it wasn't."

"So, when Blackbeard became human again, you and your sister were some of the attendants that his crew kidnapped?" Jason asked.

"Yes," Reyna said. "I think we were the only attendants who survived though. Blackbeard's crew eventually killed the rest of the prisoners before Hylla and I escaped."

Jason frowned, and the little scar on his lip twitched. "How did you manage to escape?"

Reyna felt tears brimming in her eyes again, but she willed them away. She couldn't let her fear control her. "Hylla saved us. I didn't realize it, but she's amazing with a sword. She dueled the pirates for our freedom. I think they were kind of scared of her. She told Blackbeard that if he didn't let us go, she would take over his ship, and I don't think she was bluffing either. Blackbeard put us in a row boat and we sailed to Washington."

Jason was silent, and Reyna watched him carefully as he thought over her story. She wondered if he was finally putting together just how hopeless going after Blackbeard was. The only reason she had escaped the first time was because she had Hylla there to help her. Hylla couldn't save her this time. They would have to face the pirates alone.

He sighed, but then gave her a reassuring smile. "First things first, we have to get to Circe's island."

"And then we have to face Blackbeard," Reyna said. She couldn't help the hopeless feeling that settled in her chest.

"True," Jason said. "But the last time you and your sister faced Blackbeard, you had no training. You've trained with Lupa now. You've battled and outwitted monsters and ghosts. You're stronger than you were a year ago, Reyna, and you're not going to be there alone. After we're done with them, Blackbeard is going to wish he never messed with you."

Reyna breathed, she knew it wouldn't be as easy as Jason said, but he had a point. She was stronger than she was a year ago. They would be okay.

Jason gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and Reyna smiled softly. "Okay," she said. She looked at Scipio who was watching them curiously. "You ready to fly us out of here, Skippy?"

The Pegasus whinnied and bucked his head as if he was nodding. "Let's go then," Reyna said.

* * *

They flew in silence away from the cruise ship. The weather was beautiful with crystal blue skies and a gentle sea breeze. Jason thought it didn't seem fitting weather for a sea named for the monsters that lived there. Still, Reyna had warned him to stay alert. They would doubtless face at least one monster before they reached the island.

"How did you and your sister even manage to find Circe's island anyway?" Jason asked.

"Somehow my sister found a help wanted advertisement for Circe's spa. But I don't think she realized that it was in the Sea of Monsters though until we were sailing through. Some sea monster attacked our boat and somehow, we managed to wash up on Circe's beach."

"So, there's at least one seat monster out here that we'll probably have to deal with?" Jason asked.

"Probably. But first I think we'll have to deal with that," Reyna said, pointing with her saber at a dark cloud in the distance.

Jason flew up from Scipio's back to get a better view. At first he thought it was just a storm cloud, but then he started making out the shape of birds.

"Please tell me those aren't…"

"Stymphalian birds?" Reyna suggested grimly. "Well they're definitely not seagulls."

Jason closed his eyes as he thought, "Okay, so Hercules defeated them before, right?"

"Yes, it was his sixth task," Reyna said. "They have beaks of bronze and like to eat human flesh," she added.

"Oh good," Jason said. He could try to summon a lightning bolt to fry the birds, but there weren't any clouds in the sky. It would be like trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

Scipio knickered nervously as the birds approached, and Reyna laid her hand on his neck willing him to stay steady.

"Hercules defeated them by shooting them with arrows dipped in Hydra blood," Reyna said.

Jason looked at her incredulously as the cloud of birds came closer, "Unfortunately I'm fresh out of hydra blood and arrow, so another suggestion would be helpful."

Reyna scowled. "I'm just telling you what I know," she said swatting the first of the birds out of the sky with her saber. "I don't see you offering anything helpful."

Suddenly the flock was swarming them. Sharp beaks scratched at their skin as they desperately tried dissipating the birds with their swords. Scipio tried diving and swerving to avoid being cut, but his movements made it hard for Reyna to get a good swing at any of the birds.

Jason hit one with the flat of his sword and watched as it sank headfirst into the water, its beak acting like an anchor and pulling it below the waves. He had an idea.

"Reyna! They can't swim!" he shouted. He could practically see her brain whirring as she came up with a plan as she swatted at the birds. She gave him a wicked grin.

"Dive!" she shouted, and suddenly she and Scipio dropped toward the ocean like a rock. Jason followed their lead. Sure enough, the birds followed them as they dived straight down.

Jason worried for a moment that maybe Scipio wouldn't be able to pull up in time, but at the last possible second, Reyna yelled, "Pull up!"

It took all of Jason's might to keep from splattering on the water like concrete, and even then, his sneakers skimmed the water, and he saw Scipio's hooves do the same as he suddenly changed direction.

The Stymphalian birds were not so lucky. Like a bunch of bronze bullets, they smacked the water and sank like stones.

Jason flew over to where Reyna and Scipio were waiting for him a few feet above the water. She had a few nicks on her face and arms where the birds had gotten her with their beaks, but she was grinning like she had just gotten off a roller coaster.

Jason couldn't help but grin as well. "Someone's an adrenaline junkie," he joked.

Reyna opened her mouth to respond when Scipio suddenly shot across the sky, almost knocking Reyna off his bac and Jason out of the sky.

In hindsight, Jason realized that Scipio's fast acting probably saved their lives. As it was, Jason recovered in time to see a sea monster spring out of the water swallowing the air where Reyna and Scipio had been only seconds before.

The monster was so large, it would have made the shark from _Jaws_ look like a bath toy in comparison. It could have easily swallowed both Scipio and Reyna whole. The monster had gray, leathery skin the color of the ocean, knife-sharp teeth the size of a dining chair, and glowing red eyes that, frankly, gave Jason the heebie-jeebies.

It crashed back into the water creating a tsunami-sized wave. Jason flew up to where Reyna and Scipio were watching the monster with a mixture of awe and horror.

"What is that thing?" Jason asked.

"That's the sea monster," Reyna said, her voice unnaturally high.

Jason was so stunned he almost fell out of the sky. " _That's_ the monster that destroyed your boat?" he asked, embarrassed at how his voice cracked.

Reyna nodded grimly, "He was a lot smaller back then."

"Okay, I vote we stay as far from him as possible," Jason said dropping onto Scipio's back behind Reyna.

"I agree," Reyna said. "But it can swim fast and it can jump in the air, so we'll need to be careful."

They flew up a bit higher and traveled in silence for a while, but almost out of nowhere thick fluffy clouds began rolling through. Reyna bit her lip as she tried peering through the clouds, but it was impossible to see anything.

More clouds rolled in overhead, making Jason feel disoriented. He could feel static in the air as the clouds grew darker. They needed to get lower soon or they would be end up being fried by lightning.

"I know we're close, but I can't see anything through these stupid clouds," Reyna said.

"We need to drop down lower anyway," Jason said. "It's going to begin storming soon and we don't want to be caught in this cloud when it does. We probably lost the monster anyway."

Reyna gave him a skeptical look that let him know she didn't really believe that any more than he did. Still, they both knew it would be too dangerous to stay in the cloud much longer. Jason wasn't sure how immune he was to lightning, but he didn't really want to test that limit.

They dropped out of the clouds as fat raindrops began to fall. Reyna squinted through the rain, trying to make out any sign of the island. She pointed in the distance. "There!"

Scipio raced toward the island that was just barely visible through the rain. A crack of lightning illuminated the sky, and Jason could make out the shape of the sea monster right below the surface.

"Scipio, stop!" Jason yelled, reaching around Reyna to tug on the Pegasus's mane.

The horse let out a startled whinny, but stopped, just as the sea monster shot out of the water, swallowing the air where they would have been flying.

The monster let out a terrible roar, and changed directions midair, lunging at the trio. Scipio just barely managed to dive out of the way, dodging the monster's horrible fangs.

The monster was blocking the way to the island. They tried going around it, but the monster followed them, lunging and jumping at the water at them. For a monster so large, it was surprisingly quick. Each time, Scipio barely managed to avoid the monster's teeth.

"We need to distract it, otherwise we'll never get past it!" Reyna shouted, as the rain plastered her dark hair to her head.

"Cover me!" Jason shouted, hopping from Scipio's back. "I'm on it!"

Reyna pulled out her saber and began taunting and jabbing at the monster as Scipio rolled and dived around the beast.

Jason flew toward the clouds and began summoning as much lightning as he could. He would need a serious blast to stun the monster long enough for them to escape. He could feel the static charging through his bones, and a little part of him panicked. What if he couldn't handle that much electricity?

He took a deep breath. _No, I'm Jupiter's son,_ he thought. _I can do this._ He was about to release the blast when he saw Reyna drop onto the monster's head ad stab at the monster's eye.

He could feel the energy from the lightning building up to a critical point. He wouldn't be able to control it much longer.

"Reyna get out of the way!" he yelled.

She got the message not a moment too soon. She sprinted across the monster's head and leapt into the air just as Jason released the lightning blast.

The blast seemed to stun the monster, but Jason didn't have time to celebrate. He didn't see Scipio anywhere, and unless she had suddenly developed the ability to fly, Reyna was about to smack the ocean from eight stories high.

He flew as fast as he could and managed to grab her around the waist right before she smacked the ocean. He was already exhausted from the lightning blast, so trying to keep them both in the air was a lot harder than it should have been.

Before he could fly them higher in the air, a wave crashed over him, pulling them both underwater. They tumbled through the water as the waves pounded and disoriented them. Something hard hit him in the temple as another wave crashed over them, and Jason felt his vision go black.

* * *

What happened next, Jason could only remember in pieces of what felt like a dream. He vaguely remembered Reyna dragging him to shore before her own legs gave out, Scipio whinnying in alarm.

Then he was in a warm bed in a white room. A beautiful woman in her early 20s looked over him with disgust. She had fair skin and dark hair, and her green eyes studied him like he was the most revolting creature she had ever seen. "He'll live," she said, not sounding particularly pleased about that fact.

When he woke up again, the fair skinned girl was replaced with another girl. She had darker skin and black hair that hug loose and wavy past her shoulders. She had a serious expression and dark eyes the color of onyx. She looked different from the first girl, but just as beautiful. As her face came into better focus, he realized it was Reyna. He didn't know what to think about that, so he decided to blame it on his concussion.

She had a handful of shallow cuts across her face and shadows under her eyes from an obvious lack of sleep, but otherwise she seemed uninjured.

"You okay?" he asked, startled by how hoarse his voice sounded.

Despite her obvious exhaustion, Reyna's lips curled into the tiniest hint of a smile. "Asks the guy with a concussion."

She gave his hand a slight squeeze, and he realized she had been holding his hand. Jason didn't mind though. He was very certain they had both almost died. It was nice reassurance that they were both alive.

Suddenly the door slammed open, and Reyna moved her hand away like she had been shocked. The woman from earlier strolled into the room. She had a smile on her face that showed off her brilliant white teeth, but she didn't look particularly happy.

"Oh good, he's awake," the woman said. "Now can I turn him into a guinea pig?"


	17. Chapter 17

**Gotta love when work kicks your butt for a few months, eh? TBH, I haven't been super inspired to update a lot, because kind of makes me sad now. But I finally typed up my old notebooks as I'm getting ready to move, so I figured I should probably post a chapter since I have one written. If you like what I'm writing please comment or share. I'd really appreciate it. Hope y'all are having a happy summer (or winter if you're in the lower hemisphere)**

 **~AF**

* * *

 **XVII.**

Circe turned out to be a surprisingly generous host. She gave each of them a pair of clean clothes and prepared them sandwiches and tea, though Reyna warned him not to eat or drink anything Circe offered him.

Reyna appeared relatively at ease in front of Circe, but as soon as the sorceress had left to put away the plates, Jason could instantly see how on edge she was. She chewed on her lip nervously, and she bounced her leg in her seat.

They were sitting in one of the rooms off to the side of the main hall. More books than Jason had ever seen in his life lined the walls. There were books in English, Latin, Greek, French, and even some languages Jason didn't recognize.

"They're lovely, aren't they?" Circe said as she re-entered the room, coming to stand behind Jason's chair. "You could stay here if you'd like. You could read as many books as you'd like," she said, stroking her fingers through his hair.

Jason felt his eyes begin to glaze over. He wondered if it was his concussion.

"Circe!" Reyna hissed, snapping him out of his stupor.

Circe rolled her eyes, "Oh, Reyna, you were always such a stick-in-the-mud. I much preferred your sister, though I must say I am happy to hear that both of you survived. Most of my attendants did not." She eyed Jason distastefully. "Now you've brought me this boy. Not as satisfying as a pirate, but I suppose every collection has to start somewhere."

"He's not here to be part of your stupid collection!" Reyna snapped.

Circe pouted. "Please? I'm sure he'd love it here. Wouldn't you just love it here, doll?" she asked Jason.

He felt a fog in his brain at her words. Staying on the island did sound pretty nice…

"Well," he began unsurely, but Reyna cut him off.

"Circe, enough. He's my friend."

Circe frowned, "And I don't suppose you're here for a job. So, why are you here Reyna? Why did you come back?"

"We need to find Blackbeard," she said.

Circe blinked in surprise and set down her tea. "Why on Olympus would you want to do that?"

"Remember the Imperial Gold weapons he stole when he destroyed your spa? We need to find them," Reyna said.

"And you knew he'd come here," Circe said.

"I hoped."

Circe pursed her lips. "You know every month he comes back. He and his pirates ransack my spa. They kidnap or kill my attendants. I'm immortal. They can't kill me, so instead they punish me."

"Yes, it must be so traumatic for _you_ having your former slaves kill or kidnap your current slaves," Reyna snapped rising to her feet like she was ready to fight the sorceress.

Circe jumped to her feet and raised her arm like she was going to smack Reyna, but instead she took a deep breath and lowered her arm.

"You've experienced trauma, so I'll forgive you for your words and lapse of judgement," she said. "If you want to find him, you came at a perfect time. He should be here tomorrow morning." She began walking toward the door. "Oh, and Reyna, be careful. You had Hylla to help you last time. This time you're alone."

"She's not alone," Jason said, standing next to Reyna.

Circe just shook her head. "Feel free to use your old room," she said as she left.

Reyna's face was set in determination, but Jason couldn't help but notice the slight tremor in her hands. He couldn't tell if it was from rage or fear.

"Come on," she said, marching toward the opposite door.

Reyna led Jason through the maze that was Circe's spa and resort. After what seemed like an eternity of twists and turns that would have been enough to make Jason's head spin without a concussion, they finally stopped outside of a large wooden door.

Reyna paused as she reached the door and took a deep breath, before turning the handle. When the door opened, Reyna gasped as if she had seen a ghost.

The room looked like it had been untouched since she and her sister had lived there. One bed was made up neatly, with a tidy stack of clothes on the bed, while the other was unmade with a ratty looking teddy bear and an assortment of clothes tossed haphazardly on the sheets. A small collection of photos and drawings were taped to the wall.

Reyna walked over to the unmade bed and mechanically began folding the clothes and smoothing out the bedding.

Jason walked over to the wall and looked at the pictures that were taped to it. There weren't many photos. Most of them had obviously been taken by Reyna when she and Hylla had lived on Circe's island.

There were a few of Hylla and Circe dressed professionally, like they were preparing for a business meeting. There was one of Reyna beaming at whoever was taking the photo, probably Hylla.

There was one photo that didn't match the others. It was older and wrinkly and warped like it had been damp at one point. In the photo was a man probably in his mid-thirties, smiling at a young girl around six or seven-years-old, holding a baby.

Jason recognized the man as Reyna's father from the vision in New Orleans, which meant the girl was probably Hylla and the baby—Reyna. In the photo, her father still looked tired, like he hadn't slept in a few days, but he looked kinder and gentler as he smiled at his daughters.

"Hylla always hated that I kept that picture," Reyna said quietly from behind him. She was staring at the teddy bear in her hands, not meeting his eyes. "My dad got… worse shortly after this photo was taken." She took a deep breath. "I never knew him when he was good, so I used to look at this photo and try to imagine."

Suddenly, her expression changed into one of rage. With a scream, she threw the teddy bear across the room, knocking over a decorative vase that shattered on the ground. Two small rings rolled out of the vase and stopped at Jason's feet.

He bent down and picked up the matching rings. A torch and _ was etched into the silver metal.

Reyna glanced at the rings and frowned. "That's my mother's symbol. She must have sent them to Hylla when she was urging us to find Lupa."

Jason sat down next to her and handed her the matching rings. "I thought you said you didn't know Bellona was your mother until you came to camp?"

"I didn't. But Hylla did. And then I think when Hylla refused to find Lupa, Bellona began sending me vague messages in my dreams. She didn't want us to stay here," Reyna said quietly.

"I always hated this place," she said after a moment. "Now…" she looked around the place with a sad look in her eyes.

"This place… It was never supposed to be your home. This isn't a place for demigods, especially you," Jason said.

"You think Camp Jupiter's really that place?" Reyna asked skeptically.

"I can't say for sure," Jason admitted, "But you're one of the most powerful demigods I've ever met, and whether you end up staying in New Rome or not, I'm glad to have you as my friend."

Jason could still see the tension in her shoulders, but her expression relaxed a little, and she gave him a small smile. "Whatever happens tomorrow, I'm glad you'll be there with me."

Jason smiled and knocked his shoulder into hers gently, "I've got your back, Rey."

He didn't know what the next day would have in store, but for the first time since they started their quest, Jason felt like things were finally going right.

The next morning, he was awakened by a pile of clean clothes hitting him in the face.

"Get up. Circe says Blackbeard should be here in the next hour or so," Reyna said sharply.

Jason yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "Good morning to you too," he said sleepily. She came into focus as he woke up more. She was dressed in fresh clothes; a purple t-shirt, shorts, and her sneakers. Her hair was braided neatly over her shoulder, but he could see the anxiety on her face. Her lips were tight, and her jaw was clenched.

Jason wondered if she had even managed to sleep last night.

"Let me get dressed, and we'll go over our game plan," Jason said.

She nodded tensely, "I'll meet you in the library where we were yesterday."

After Jason was dressed in fresh clothes, he tucked IVLIVS carefully in his pocket before heading down to meet Reyna in the library.

Reyna nibbled distractedly at the end of a croissant as Circe talked. Reyna glanced up as Jason entered the room.

"Croissant?" Circe offered eagerly, holding up the tray of pastries for him to take.

"Circe—" Reyna warned.

"What?" Circe smiled innocently. Reyna narrowed her eyes at her and tore off a bit of Jason's croissant. She was about to eat it, when Circe stopped her.

"Wait!" she snapped her fingers and offered Reyna a smile. "Okay, sorry."

Reyna gave her a stare that would have made Lupa's wolves cower. She ate a bite of the croissant and deemed the pastry to be not-cursed so Jason could eat it.

Circe scowled at Jason, before turning to Reyna, "I'll be getting ready for his arrival. I'll let you know when he's coming."

Reyna nodded curtly, and Circe left them alone in the library.

"We'll have to challenge Blackbeard to a duel," Reyna said, getting down to business. "He won't duel us himself; he'll have one of his men fight for him. If we win, he has to take us to the weapons."

"And if we lose?" Jason asked.

The look Reyna gave him told him that the answer would not be pleasant. They couldn't afford to lose. But it brought another question...

"Which one of us is going to duel?" He asked.

Reyna took a deep breath, and when she met his eyes, he was fairly certain he already knew her answer. "Look, if you don't want to, I entirely understand, but—"

Jason blinked in surprise, "Wait, you want me to duel?"

"I know it's a lot to ask, but—"

Jason shook his head, "No, it's fine, it's just… I though you would want to… you know, payback?"

Reyna pursed her lips, "Believe me, I want make Blackbeard and his crew pay for than anyone. But Blackbeard is a son of Mars. He'll expect me to be rash and duel him as revenge. They already know my fighting style, but they've never fought a Roman from Camp Jupiter before."

Jason nodded, "Okay, is there anything I should know about a pirate duel?"

"There will be a pirate who will explain the rules. You'll meet in the center, cross blades, and when the pirate says 'positions,' you'll both turn and take three paces to the rear. You have to follow this rule, but the pirate you're dueling won't, so as soon as you get to the third step, turn around and prepare to block his strike. He'll almost always go for the head, hoping to decapitate you before you even turn around," Reyna shuddered, and Jason wondered how many times she and her sister had to witness this. He glanced down at his croissant, suddenly not feeling very hungry.

Reyna continued, "You'll be fine as long as you expect it, but this is a really important rule to remember. After that, anything goes until one of you yields or is killed. Whatever happens, don't yield. They'll just kill you anyway, but if the pirate you're dueling yields, don't kill him or they'll just kill both of us."

"Sounds fair," Jason said dryly.

She gave him a small smile, "Just let me do the talking, and follow my lead."

The door opened and Circe poked her head into the room.

"Blackbeard's ship is coming," she said. She turned and gave Reyna a serious look. "Be careful, Reyna."

Reyna took a deep breath and turned to face Jason. He knew she was probably terrified, but she did a good job hiding it.

"We'll have to sneak on board while they're sacking the island. We'll catch them by surprise."

Jason nodded and pulled out IVLIVS, "Read to kick some pirate butt?"

She gave him a dark look, "Let's give them hell."


	18. Chapter 18

**Happy New Year! Anyone have any New Year's Resolutions for 2020? I returned from China a few months ago and have been slowly adjusting to life back home. It's been pretty boring tbh and I've been really struggling to write anything, but I figured I have this chapter already typed up. I might as well post it. If anyone's still out there and reading, I'd love any feedback you guys have.**

 **~AF**

* * *

 **XVIII.**

Jason flew them to hide in one of the palm trees along the beach. They watched as the pirates ran ashore, jeering and yelling, brandishing their swords and cutlasses.

Reyna's expression was dark as she watched them, but she remained stoic. Once the pirates were up to the resort, Jason flew them to the crow's nest of the ship where they waited for an hour in tense silence.

Reyna didn't speak, but she didn't look scared even knowing they would soon be facing the men who kidnapped her and her sister. And despite what they were up against, Jason didn't feel scared or even nervous. He felt focused, like he did before the war games. It was like Reyna's bravery was rubbing off on him.

"They're coming back," Reyna said quietly, breaking the silence. "Remember what I said about the duel." Her black eyes met his. "You can do this," she said without a trace of doubt.

Jason believed her. He could do this. "We should wait until we're away from the island," he said.

Reyna nodded, listening as the pirates celebrated their success. "Blackbeard will come out a give a victory speech soon. That's when we'll make ourselves known," she whispered.

Sure enough, half an hour after they had started sailing away from the island, Blackbeard came out of the captain's quarters, holding a mug of a drink that was definitely not nectar.

Jason had heard stories of Blackbeard, but he was more terrifying in person than Jason could have imagined. He stood over six feet tall and was built like an ox. He had a wiry black beard that covered most of his face, making him look a bit like a bear. But his eyes were the most terrifying feature. Even from a distance, Jason could see a wild and sadistic glint in his eyes. They were black, but not nice like Reyna's, and from certain angles, they seemed to glow like smoldering embers.

"Get ready," Reyna said.

On the deck, Blackbeard began to address his men, "Gentlemen! We've had another successful raid!"

The pirates roared in approval. Blackbeard continued, "And of course, none of this would have been possible without our gracious host."

The pirates jeered and laughed, but Reyna's voice cut through the noise, "She says you're not welcome."

The pirates instantly went quiet as she and Jason swooped down from the crow's nest. The pirates murmured among themselves anxiously.

"Is that Hylla?" One whispered.

"It's Reyna."

"What's she doing here?"

Blackbeard chuckled good-naturedly, but Jason could see the flames in his eyes growing. "My, my, my... Is that our little Reynita?" Blackbeard mocked, "Where's your big sissy? We've… missed her," he said, grinning to reveal his blackened teeth.

The pirates laughed, getting over their initial shock.

"You've missed her? Was that before or after she almost took over your ship?" Reyna asked coolly.

One of the pirates raised his sword to strike at her, but Blackbeard raised his hand to stop him. He didn't try to hide his contempt for her now, the smirk leaving his face. "Did the witch send you?" Blackbeard asked.

"No," Reyna said. "Do what you'd like with Circe. She deserves what she gets. Her slaves don't, but that's not why I'm here either," Reyna said smoothly.

"So, why are you here then?" he nodded toward Jason, "I see you've gotten yourself a little boyfriend." He studied Jason uninterestedly, "If you're here to ask for my approval, I'll admit I think you're a tad young, but ultimately it's your decision."

Reyna scowled at him, and some of the pirates shifted uneasily. "I'm not here for your jokes. You have something of ours. We want it back."

Blackbeard laughed, but his eyes remained fiery and angry, "And that would be?"

"The Roman weapons from Circe's island. I want you to take us to them," Reyna said.

Blackbeard stroked his beard, "That's an interesting proposition, Reynita. But I could also just kill you and be done with you once and for all."

"We'll duel you for it," Jason said.

The pirates laughed and waved their swords until Blackbeard silenced them with a glare.

"Ah, so he does speak," Blackbeard said, trying to goad him. "A duel, hmmm? That makes things more interesting, doesn't it? And if we win the duel, what be in it for us?"

"I'll stay as your slave for the rest of my life," Reyna said calmly.

Jason stared at her in alarm. That had not been discussed as part of their plan, "Reyna—" he hissed, but she ignored him.

Blackbeard grinned and the pirates took their cue and jeered and whistled, "Oh, I like that very much. Very well, girl. You have yourself a deal. If you win, I'll take you to your precious weapons, and if I win, you'll be my slave for eternity." He held out his hand, and before Jason could try to stop her, she shook his hand.

"That settles it," He whistled once, "James, prepare to duel."

Reyna smirked, "And for a second I thought I was going to finally battle the infamous Blackbeard."

Blackbeard grinned darkly, "Oh, you won't be dueling anyone, missy. I want to see what your little boyfriend can do."

To her credit, Reyna was good at feigning alarm, "That wasn't part of the deal!"

"I'm the captain of this ship! I set the terms for the duel. My best fighter versus your friend." He turned to the crowd of pirates, "What do you say men? Shall we see what the boy can do?"

The pirates hooted and hollered, and as she turned toward him, Jason could see the slight smirk on her lips. She had known they would do the opposite of what she said she wanted. They had played right into her hands.

She walked over to him, "Remember what I told you; third step, turn and prepare to block. James was injured last year, so he favors his left side."

Jason nodded. He felt focused and powerful. He was ready.

"Fighters, step forward!" One of the pirates called.

"You've got this," Reyna murmured.

Jason and the other fighter stepped forward and the referee explained the rules, just as Reyna said.

"Ready?"

Jason and the pirate, James crossed blades.

"Positions."

Jason turned and counted his steps; one, two, three. He turned, and sure enough, James had already crossed the distance to strike, but Jason was prepared. He parried the strike and rolled to the side.

The pirate was good and definitely didn't fight like a Roman. His fighting style was a bit like Reyna's, but more open. Where Reyna fought more defensively, the pirate was more aggressive with his swings. But that also left him more vulnerable.

Jason decided to test what Reyna had told him. He feigned to the left and the pirate moved to block his hip.

Interesting, Jason thought.

He slashed toward the left and at the last moment, swung right. The pirate just barely managed to block in time.

"You really think you can win, boy?" The pirate laughed, "I'm just warming up."

Suddenly, he began to strike with such a ferocity that it took all that Jason had to deflect his blows.

He turned suddenly and struck at Jason's arm.

Jason was able to avoid getting his hand chopped off, but the blade managed to cut Jason's arm. He gasped in pain, and the pirate grinned wickedly, "I'll hack you to pieces and feed you to the sharks. Then your little girlfriend will be ours." He licked his lips, "I've certainly missed having a little girl like her aboard."

Jason felt his fury blindingly hot. Storm clouds rumbled overhead, and Jason heard a crack of thunder and felt a surge of electricity course through him. He was vaguely aware of the smell of ozone that he was fairly certain was coming off of his clothes, but he didn't care. He was so angry for Reyna. He wanted to destroy the pirates.

He let out a scream as he struck at the pirate. The pirate's eyes widened in shock as he struggled to block Jason's strikes.

A sudden charge of electricity surge through his sword, shocking James sword out of his hand. James tripped backward and landed on his butt, eyes wide with fear.

"Yield!" Jason growled, digging his sword under the pirate's chin.

"Yield! I yield!" The pirate stammered.

He lowered his sword and turned away from the pirate. He felt his energy leave him almost as quickly as it came and his arm throbbed, but he refused to let it show.

The pirates were silent and wide-eyed. Reyna tried to remain stoic, but he could see the hint of a smile on her lips.

Suddenly, her expression changed, and quicker than he could process, she struck at James over Jason's shoulder as he tried to attack Jason from behind. The pirate disintegrated into dust, an Reyna turned and suddenly had her sword under Blackbeard's chin.

Jason raised his sword as the other pirates started forward to defend their captain.

"Tell your men to back off or I'll send you to Tartarus to join your little cheater," Reyna growled, eyes steely.

Blackbeard laughed, "You need me to find your weapons and save your little camp. You wouldn't kill me."

"Really?" Reyna said, digging her sword deeper. Blackbeard made a strangled noise, "I've been at Camp Jupiter for a week. I've hated you every day for over a year." She pushed her sword deeper, and a thin line of blood began to drip down her blade, "I dare you to try me."

The pirates and Jason watched nervously waiting to see what would happen.

"Fine," Blackbeard said. The dark fire in his eyes was an inferno, "Your little friend won fair and square. I'll take you to your weapons." He gave a sharp whistle. "Thomas! Take these two to the quarter master's room. They can stay there."

"If you try to double cross us, I will send this entire ship to Tartarus where it belongs," Reyna warned coldly. "Don't underestimate my rage."

Blackbeard's eyes flashed dangerously, but Reyna's stare didn't falter.

"You heard the lady," Blackbeard shouted to his ship. "No funny business."

Reyna reluctantly lowered her sword, and the other pirates did the same. One of the pirates, Thomas, stepped forward.

"This way, ma'am," he said glancing nervously between Reyna and Jason as he took them below the deck. Even though Reyna was shorter than most of the pirates, the power she exuded was incredible. None of the pirates dared to meet her eyes as Thomas led them to their room.

He stopped in front of a door and unlocked it for them. Then, he gave them a nervous bow before running back for the deck.

The room was bare except for a bed bolted to ground, and an old lantern for light. As soon as they closed and bolted the door, Reyna crumpled, her confidence façade crumbling.

Her hands were trembling, and her breathing was ragged as she tried to control her panic. Jason dropped to his knees next to her and took one of her hands in his. "Hey, you were amazing," he said quietly. "You're doing great, Reyna."

"He knows," Reyna said. "He knows he still terrifies me."

"Well you know what, he's pretty damn scared of you too," Jason said.

They sat in silence for a few moments. He hadn't realized just how scared she really was. The fact that she was able to face her former captors, trick them into a duel, and keep them from skewering him alive was pretty impressive in Jason's eyes.

"Is your arm okay?" Reyna asked after a moment.

He had almost forgotten. He winced as he rolled up the sleeve of his torn sweatshirt, revealing an ugly looking gash. It didn't look too deep, but it definitely hurt.

"It's just a flesh wound," Jason joked in a British accent.

Reyna rolled her eyes at him as she rummaged through her backpack. "Remember when I said you're not as funny as you think you are?"

"I'll have you know; Dakota thinks I'm hysterical," He protested.

"After eight glasses of fruit punch, Dakota would probably think trees were hysterical too," Reyna said dryly. But a smile tugging on her lips just enough to betray her amusement.

Jason couldn't help but grin, "Now who's the funny one?" he teased.

Reyna cracked a smile and handed him a piece of ambrosia before beginning to bandage his arm.

"You can rest first," she said as she finished wrapping his arm. "I'll keep watch. Blackbeard's going to try something before we reach those weapons. I know it."

Jason wanted to protest, but as his adrenaline from the duel wore off and the effects of the ambrosia started to sink in, he realized he probably wouldn't be able to keep his eyes open if he wanted to.

"Okay," he said. "Wake me up in a few hours."

Reyna nodded seriously, and Jason found himself drifting off to sleep.


End file.
